Posted on 06/23/2004 6:23:17 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback
Things just don’t add up. The polls tell us that a significant majority of American voters oppose same-sex “marriage.” Yet congressmen and senators tell us that their phones aren’t exactly ringing off the hook over this issue. In fact, they’re hardly getting any calls on the subject at all—not even from Christians. What’s going on?
One explanation might be that, for many secularists who oppose same-sex “marriage,” it’s just not that big a deal. The general public often shies away from controversial social issues, especially during election years, and no one wants to seem judgmental, after all, in today’s “tolerant” environment.
But what about Christians? What’s our excuse for staying silent?
I think some don’t really believe this is such a critical battle. To them I can only say—wake up and pay attention. This issue has the potential to redefine and, ultimately, to destroy the institution of marriage in this country—and with marriage goes the family. You can’t ignore this.
But there are other Christians who recognize the importance of the battle over same-sex “marriage” but are still not speaking up. For many of them, I think the problem is a lack of faith.
Now, that may sound harsh, but I can’t think of a better way to put it. A lot of Christians—even some of our most prominent leaders—seem to have succumbed to a “What’s the use?” attitude. They believe that the cultural climate has turned so much against us that we’ll never be able to stop the advance of same-sex “marriage.” And they have heard that we don’t have the votes to pass a constitutional amendment in this session of Congress—so they don’t even want to urge the House and Senate to vote. Some Christian commentators have sounded a defeatist note.
I understand the need to be realistic about the odds we are facing—yes, it’s a tough fight. But it’s quite another thing to believe that because we don’t have the votes today, there’s no reason to fight.
I worked in the U.S. Senate between 1956 and 1960. We fought hard for civil rights bills—against entrenched segregation. Every year the bills were blocked by filibusters. But we kept fighting year after year. So did leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., and others. By 1964 the voting rights act was passed.
And what about Ronald Reagan, whom we honored just weeks ago—the man who led us to victory in the Cold War? He dared to demand that the Berlin Wall be torn down when almost no one else thought it possible. It took years, but it happened.
Remember, too, Wilberforce and his campaigns against slavery. He had only a handful of votes when he started, but he trusted in God. He battled year after year in the Parliament, and twenty years later, an overwhelming majority voted to end that horrible villainy.
The Senate has, I’m happy to say, scheduled debate to begin the week of July 12. Maybe there aren’t the votes there this year to pass a constitutional amendment, but that’s no excuse not to start the fight. We need a great national debate so we can make our case. And maybe we’ll lose this year—maybe next year we’ll lose again. But we’ll come back year after year—until we win. Like the cause of abolition, our cause is just. And if we trust in God, I believe that during the coming public debates, the public will see this as a great defining issue. And when they do, the pressure will be on recalcitrant congressmen to come our way.
I say let the debate begin. Let us engage the battle.
Shalom.
The authority to which I seek recourse is Scripture which I believe you have misread.
Be that as it may - I agree to disagree agreeably with you and regard you as a brother in Christ.
Blessings.
And blessings on you. I'm sure we'll come back to it some time or other. :-)
I will re-read Genesis 1-3 in the light of your comments. Thank you.
Shalom.
"Look in the mirror Christians it's our fault!
2 Chron 7:14
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
The practical out-working of that repentance of course will be that we ultimately will have to act on that repenteance and begin to speak out and stand against today's evils...to the point of even laying down our lives.
So far fortunately it can start with every Christian exercising their voice and their vote...who knows how long we'll have the vote.
A simple answer: Don't send your daughter to places where she will mingle with people who do not share your values.
"Understood. I am not suggesting that we should refrain from all participation in government. I am simply pointing out that we have no obligation to consider the government the legitimate authority in any matter that directly contradicts Christian moral teachings. If one is faced with the choice of breaking a civil law or breaking God's laws, then the appropriate choice is obvious."
I see. As far as government not being considered the legitimate authority, I would agree. It's not unlike toying with the idea that morality is derived from government. You would have the same problems. Basically it becomes merely what government says it is, not what God says; or what thousands of years of cultural evolution say; or whatever one's religion might be says.
Great post. It appears that Christianity is reorganizing
into two groups - true Christians and pseudo Christians. The
"pseudos" will, in the end, be the congregants of Lucifer.
"I don't think that's the point of Colson's claim that same-sex 'marriage' will "destroy the institution of marriage in this country." Decreasing frequency is not destruction."
If something decreases in frequency enough it becomes non-existant. I think he is exaggerating a bit, though, unless what he means is marriage *as we know it* will be destroyed. If this is the case, he may be right. Not overnight, of course, but I see marriage becoming just another business contract.
I remember sci-fi flicks where people would just create a contract with each other for 5 years (or some variation on this). Children are raised by the State since the idea of raising children would be inconvenient to many people who are too self-absorbed to want to deal with it. I expect this is what we're heading toward. This isn't to say we'll ever get there, just that this is the direction we're going now.
"I'm frustrated and disappointed in what I see many conservatives posting here."
I would have to agree with everything you said here. I also wish I could say it as well.
I hope that day never comes.
Excellent point and in nicer terms than I would have used.
Oh, it most definitely will come. It is a matter of when, not if.
Then why do they have restrictions on where they can be placed?
The intrinisic value of something is how it appears in the public eye, not the eye of the occupant.
And there still has been no mention about selling, only that something is devalued, cheapened, denigrated, demeaned, ridiculed and mocked by something tawdry and peverse.
Reality is that following Christ's orders is not optional for the Christian, even if they seem difficult, or even (in our near-blind I-can-see-one-thread-in-the-big-picture-tapestry condition) futile. As C.S. Lewis said, what God requires of us is that when Christ returns we are at our post standing our watch. All else is silliness.
Second, those who do choose to get "married" will have a major impact on our laws -- and those laws affect ALL of us. For example, schools will have to teach that there is no difference between the types of marriage. Both "fathers" or both "mothers" may show up at school to address the class on "career day" or somesuch.
Exposure to the homosexual lifestyle will be forced on all of us through litigation. And since the majority of committed gays do not believe in monogamy, it will dilute the essence of the institution of marriage, and make a mockery of it.
Fair enough. The proof is in the European countries which have already adopted it. This thread is another Colson thread discussing data from Holland. Here is the original Holland article in the Weekly Standard. Over here is an article by the same author (Hoover Institute research fellow Stanley Kurtz) on the effect of same-sex marriage on the family structure and culture in Scandinavia. And lastly, he discusses Dutch experience again in This National Review article. The gist is this: The net effect of gay marriage is that it devalues real marriage and disconnects it from child-rearing to the point that marriage pretty much dies out among heterosexuals. Instead they settle for the "Daddy du Jour" lifestyle.
Oops, too late. A foolish person in post #7 already asked it.
Excellent question. Now ask yourself this: If my local government decided to tax me to provide funds for plowing green snow off the streets during the months of June, July and August, would I fight it? If so, how?
Fight gay marriage the same way you'd fight green snow plowing: Point out the fiction, point out the real reasons the fiction is being implemented, and raise HEL with your elected reps.
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