NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–America has taken one more step toward being a godless nation.
Homosexuals can now legally marry each other in Massachusetts, opening the floodgates of immorality that will continue to solidify our country as a secular nation. Many are boldly proclaiming May 17 as a day of victory, but few have stopped to measure the cost of destroying humanity’s oldest institution. More significantly, a minority of people has shoved God aside in order to satiate their lusts while a majority stood passively by and allowed the tragic day to proceed. Our only legal hope at this point of preventing irreparable erosion to our society is a Federal Marriage Amendment.
Think about the long-term implications. This is not just a question of a marriage license. When same-sex marriage becomes broadly codified, referring to “mother” and “father” will be disallowed because those two names will be irrelevant. Pictures in children’s books will show same-sex couples as normative and children will be instructed that disapproval of homosexual relationships is fanaticism and not to be tolerated. Ironic, considering one of the criticisms of Christians by those pushing the homosexual agenda is that we’re intolerant.
Intolerant homosexuals have orchestrated a concerted effort to demonize those who hold their lifestyle as unacceptable and sinful behavior. Samuel Silver, a Jewish writer and chairman of Toward Tradition, states that the real issue is not a conflict between homosexuals and heterosexuals, it is a clash of worldviews. One holds that there are no absolutes, that there is no such thing as “unacceptable” behavior. These are secular fundamentalists. The other holds that God’s Word gives us guidelines and that these guidelines must be followed for a peaceful and healthy society. It is upon this second group that our nation was founded.
Silver continues in his essay, “Some of My Best Friends are Gay,” to compare humans who are born morally “tabula rasa” (with a blank slate) and the United States, which was not. “The Founders,” he writes, “believed that religious faith, particularly the Judeo-Christian tradition, provided the objective ethical basis needed for a free society to properly function.”
But years of systematically removing our godly underpinnings led to the tragedy in Massachusetts. Federal judges at all levels have played vital roles in the eradication of all things Christian from the marketplace. Such is the case in Massachusetts. Four state Supreme Court judges out of seven ruled in favor of homosexual marriage, ripping from the state’s people — and most likely all Americans — the constitutional right to decide for ourselves whether homosexual “marriage” should be allowed.
Passive Christianity takes the blame along with tyrannical judges. I was on a conference call the other day with several religious leaders, one of whom was Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship. He indicated there has been relatively little public outcry received by legislators over the same-sex “marriage” issue.
This must change. While we have a responsibility to be compassionate toward people living in homosexuality and all other sin, we must not condone their lifestyles.
To argue that homosexuality is acceptable because it is a “natural” inclination is disingenuous. We convict those who act on their “natural” inclinations toward violence or pedophilia. Using the homosexual activist’s logic of acceptability, convicting such offenders is discriminatory and intolerant. Some would argue there is a difference, but by whose standard? Therein lies the problem. Acceptable behavior slips into the realm of relativity when morality is decided by human standards. However, God’s standard is absolute. Sin is clearly defined. Deciding right and wrong is beyond human standards and rests in the hands of the Creator and Designer of our universe.
And this is why there are two primary reasons Christians must engage the culture and make our voice strongly heard. First, we must speak the truth in love. If we fail to share God’s plan for humanity, we’ve failed the homosexual and we’ve failed in fulfilling the Great Commission. The second reason we must be heard is to protect the sanctity of God’s design for marriage. According to God’s Word, He never intended marriage to be anything other than between one man and one woman.
With militant homosexuality ripping apart the tapestry of a stable society, our only hope at this point for protecting marriage — other than God’s intervention — is through a Federal Marriage Amendment. The only way it is going to happen is if we the people make our desire for this legislation known.
I can guarantee homosexual activists are pressuring your members of Congress to reject such action. I strongly urge you to contact President Bush and your congressional representatives and voice your support for the Federal Marriage Amendment during this session of Congress. We need to push for a vote on this issue before the election this fall. The American people have a right to know where the candidates stand who will represent them in Washington.
President Bush has stood strong on this issue, but we must let him know of our support for the Federal Marriage Amendment and our opposition to judicial intimidation from federal judges.
The White House comment telephone number is (202) 456-1111.
The switchboard for both the House of Representatives and the Senate is (202) 224-3121. The Internet address for the House is http://www.house.gov/Welcome.html and http://www.senate.gov/ for the Senate. Information about your congressmen can be found at either site by typing in your zip code.
Let’s take a step in the right direction and become a more godly nation.
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James T. Draper Jr. is president of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
