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The Chick-fil-A Squawk
I want to thank Chicago politicians Rahm Emmanuel (mayor) and Joe Moreno (alderman) and Boston’s Thomas Menino (mayor) for helping clarify a point that some Christians have a hard time seeing. Some brethren have said: “Why should we oppose gay marriage? I don’t agree with it, but it doesn’t infringe upon our right to practice heterosexual marriage.”
This viewpoint overlooks a crucial truth about the pro-homosexual movement: Homosexuals are not interested in our “tolerance”; they do not want equal rights with heterosexual marriages. What they want is to be mainstreamed to the point that stating your contrary opinion is grounds for hateful vilification, economic sanctions or even, if possible, criminal charges for discrimination. You are not allowed to have your personal opinion; you are a hatemonger, a narrow-minded bigot and out of step with the “majority” of Chicagoans, Bostonians, etc.
There are many grounds on which to discuss this issue, but I intend to only focus on a spiritual argument: We cannot allow ourselves as God’s people to be a chicken in the face of evil (bad pun, I know). Evil doesn’t want peaceful coexistence; it wants to destroy goodness. The crucifixion of Jesus ought to make this clear once and for all.
I have also heard: “We don’t show the same opposition to marriages which are adulterous, and adultery is sin. Why do we feel compelled to be so vocal about homosexual marriage?” My own answer is:
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True, adulterous unions (and the divorces which precede them) have been tremendously damaging to our society, and one of the most devastating judicial swings in our nation has been to favor no-fault divorce. I have pointed this out and advised listeners to be circumspect when contemplating a marriage partner. But homosexual marriage is a matter of current debate in our society. Legislators, judges and other officials are of divided minds and are trying to get a handle on the legality, morality and practicality of approving homosexual marriage across the board. This is exactly the time to let our voices be heard.
- While I am well aware that the failure of heterosexual marriage has done grave damage to children and adults alike, homosexual “marriage” attempts to legitimize extreme moral degeneracy and natural deviancy. It has been in vogue to say things like: “Well, no sin is worse than any other sin. All sin will condemn, and we shouldn’t single out any in particular.”
If this is true, then why did Jesus say: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you” (Matt. 11:21-22)? All unrepentant sinners are separated from God, but not all sinners are equal in their stubbornness and viciousness. Not all sinners are beyond redemption, but even the Lord and all His miracles could not sway Chorazin and Bethsaida.
I am not suggesting that homosexuals are the worst of all sinners, for even Jesus said Sodom would have repented at seeing His works while Capernaum would not (Matt. 11:23). But what I am affirming is that advocates and practitioners of homosexual marriage will degrade heterosexual marriage in ways that surpass the failures of heterosexual marriage itself.
Finally, the viciousness and intolerance displayed by the pro-homosexual lobby last week was breathtaking. Dan Cathy didn’t even mention homosexuality. What he said was that his company supported “traditional marriage” and warned against arrogance that flippantly tampers with God’s marriage arrangement.
The tempest ignited by his comments is very enlightening. The “tolerance” trumpeted by the left is not real; it is smoke and mirrors. Philadelphia Councilman Jim Kinney, apparently oblivious to the substance of his own words, wrote to Cathy: “So please — take a hike and take your intolerance with you.” Tolerance is a very narrow, one-way street and its parameters are defined by the pro-homosexual elite. We are naïve if we think that they will like us religious folks if we just “play nice.”
Our society is a marketplace of ideas, and God’s ideas deserve to be heard. I commend Dan Cathy for speaking up. Do we have his back, and his courage?
