The Rush Toward Judgment
By Lester Troyer
"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things that are not convenient" (Romans 1:28)
Human
dignity has been degraded yet again, in recent court rulings in both the U.S. and Canada.
In the recent legalization of homosexual marriage, a Canadian court has ruled
against the Canadian government's 1999 affirmation that marriage is the union of one man
and one woman. It is a decision not likely to
be appealed.
In
the meantime, the U. S. Supreme Court has struck down state anti-sodomy laws.
In so doing, they have reversed moral codes, enacted by state legislatures, from
the founding days of the nation.
These
are the very laws needed to save us from ourselves in times like these.
Instead, we are given license to degrade ourselves even further in the nether
regions of moral chaos. The contrived
constitutional "right to privacy" has already decimated the city of the unborn
by at least 30,000,000 in 30 years. Now it
has won the case for perversion. The
legalization of same-sex marriage can hardly be far behind.
This is not the end of the story.
What
is now has obviously been coming. The whole
world has been playing political games with the HIV/AIDS problem from its beginning.
The early, most common means of spreading the virus was well known and has caused
millions of deaths. Yet, favor of a dangerous
lifestyle won the day over traditional infectious disease control methods.
Routine testing and partner notification lost to privacy and gay rights concerns.
Meanwhile the deadly virus moves on undercover, and unchecked.
In
contrast, the response to the recent SAARS outbreaks, reminds us how health threats are
normally handled. So does the mad-cow disease
episode. At this writing, the United States
border is closed to Canadian beef because one lone cow in northern Alberta tested positive
for mad-cow, This is a crushing blow to Canadian beef farmers. Yet it is an example of the
lengths to which we will go, in the name of disease control, if it is politically
expedient.
No
wonder confusion reigns. The courts have
taken on issues that don't belong to them. Rather than focusing on how to justly apply established moral laws and
freedoms under God, the moral principles themselves are put on trial.
Roe versus Wade not only decriminalized a huge chunk of homicide.
It also made shambles of our moral code. Convenience has taken precedence over responsibility, and hormones over
dignity and self-control.
The
moral status of sodomy, and terms of marriage could be changed only in relation to their
origin. In other words, the courts would know
how and under what conditions marriage originated. before they could know whether
the terms can be altered. This has not
happened.
That
is why to change the rules of marriage is to destroy marriage.
Redefinition is mere pretense. People
may as well pretend that a man can marry a boy, or a tree, or a dog.
And why not? If marriage were a
man-made device, and we were mere chance blurbs taking space on the planet, why not group
marriage? Why not do as we please with
marriage, or with any other matter?
It
is not for the courts to tell the church what marriage is.
Marriage is a sacred, religious order. Though
marriage is of unparalleled civil importance, it is not primarily a civil matter.
But
let me introduce you to the origin of marriage. Life and marriage came from the same source and the same place.
The well-marked trail of thousands of years takes us back to where it all happened.
In Genesis 1, God made the male. Then
He made the female. She was made exclusively
for him (Adam). God made her different.
He made her for companionship with him.
But not only for companionship. God
ordained that they would be one flesh. He was
not to put her away (Matthew 19:3-6). He made
them for procreation. The populating
of the whole world depended on them, and it has ever since. He was the husband. She
was the wife. That is called marriage.
They had children. That is called
family. This is heart and soul of any nation.
Every baby born into the world (even those born out of wedlock) is continued
evidence of the social necessity of the permanent traditional marriage union.
Thus,
"same-sex marriage" is a contradiction of terms.
It is on par with "Christian atheist," "flat- earth scientist,"
and "living fossil." Why? It is
against the order of God. Homosexual
"marriage" is anti-marriage. It is
also discriminatory. It flaunts what is
against nature as though it were natural. It
wrongly assumes that the relationship can somehow be legitimatised, and will put the
sameness of male for male on par with the difference of husband for wife.
It stakes its claim on the wrong-headed notion that all desires have the same claim
to gratification. It assumes the
"right" to sexual fulfillment with none of the inherent responsibility of
children, family, and future generations. Have
we in the churches so cheapened and disgraced marriage with adulteries and divorces, that
we are now subjected even to changing the definition?
If so, the heart and soul is gone. So
is human dignity.
The
black and white of the moral code given of God was not a burden, but a favor.
It was a gift from God. It was the
safe foundation of generations of Americans. Even
those who wish it were otherwise are blessed by those who are truly married. They have no idea how dark and confusing the world becomes when we
exalt our opinions against the unchanging law of God.
Don't
waste your time loading up with charges of homophobia and discrimination.
I do have a few homosexual friends. In
the interest of pastoral and rehabilitation work, I have also befriended murderers,
arsonists, thieves, and various other lawbreakers. I
neither fear nor hate a single one of them. They
have a few things in common. Their greatest
threat is from within themselves and among themselves.
And they need God. (We all do.)
Let's quit pretending that good is bad and bad is good. Our social ills are but multiplied by attacking the last bastions against destructive forms of sexual expression.
by permission of Reaching Out, PO Box 555, Seymour, MO 65746.