Gays Out, Conservatives In – the Closet.
Filed under Culture, News on April 10th, 2009 by Michael L. BrownOver the last week, there were three major victories for gay activists: The Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled that there were no constitutional grounds to ban same-sex marriage; the Vermont legislature passed a same-sex marriage bill and then overrode the governor’s veto; and Washington, D.C. indicated that it would begin to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. What does this mean for those who insist that “marriage” can only be defined as the formal union of a man and a woman as husband and wife?
As Orwellian as this might sound, the progression is clear and undeniable. First, gay activists came out of the closet and began to demand their rights (1969 was the landmark year). Then they demanded that conservatives (especially those with a Judeo-Christian moral foundation) recognize those rights. Their next goal was to take away the rights of conservatives – the rights of freedom of conscience and freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The final goal is to put conservatives in the closet, and it is happening right before our eyes. Simply stated, if homosexuality is legitimate in every respect, then any opposition to homosexuality is illegitimate.
Make no mistake about this: Where “gay marriage” becomes the law of the land, opposition to same-sex marriage will be prosecuted as unlawful. As a foretaste of what is to come, in New Mexico, Elaine Photography was found guilty of discrimination for refusing to shoot the commitment ceremony of a lesbian couple; in California a Christian doctor was found guilty of refusing to offer medical services to a lesbian woman who wanted to be artificially inseminated in order to have a baby with her partner; in Massachusetts, elementary school parents were told they did not have the right to keep their children home when homosexual issues were being discussed in class, since same-sex marriage is legal there (not to mention the fact that the courts found it more important to teach children “diversity” than to honor the wishes of the parents).
In England, an Anglican Vicar was fined and ordered to undergo equal opportunities training for refusing to hire a gay youth leader; a graduate student in the counseling program at Eastern Michigan University was expelled for refusing to affirm homosexual behavior in a private counseling session; and a Christian pastor in Canada was forbidden from speaking or writing or publishing anything that is critical of homosexual practice after writing a letter to the editor in a local newspaper.
With regard to same-sex marriage, even the gay publication The Washington Blade (May 30, 2008) raised the question of whether “the legalization of same-sex marriage in California” could potentially “prevent priests and ministers from preaching that homosexuality is biblically forbidden,” also asking if “churches in time [could] risk their tax- exempt status by refusing to marry gays.” At the least, the Blade expected a flurry of court cases. And the Georgetown University, lesbian law professor Chai Feldblum acknowledged that when push comes to shove, when there is a conflict between religious liberty and sexual liberty, “I’m having a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win.”
Is my thesis really so Orwellian after all?
Tags: coming out of the closet, gay activism, gay marriage, iowa, Vermont, vermont senate
Possibly Related Posts:
I pray more often than not for you, your family, F.I.R.E., and your work. You have caused my walk with Jesus to be strong in more ways than you’ll ever realize on this earth. That Great Gettin’ Up Morning will surely bear witness to your influence.
Thanks so much for your prayer support!
Challenging days are ahead. Let’s press in that God may make His church glorious in the midst of the darkness falling on the land.
For those that would like to share this article on their facebook account, please use the following link rather than the facebook icon below the article. Facebook is having issues with the url.
http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://tinyurl.com/dz4cfr
Well reasoned article. To the extent that they come after Christian thought, they expose their totalitarian tendencies. So, in a way, their arrogance draws more attention to their danger. That said, I’ve often thought this issue was the reason the Church of Smyrna (Rev 2:8-11) was forced into poverty. By the way, if you linked to each news item that you mentioned, it would be even more iron-clad. Never give up!
I don’t see things getting better. In a democracy, the people have their way, for good or bad. We (Americans) voted in the politicians that selected activist judges willing to legislate from the bench. We, as Americans, voted for people willing to protect peoples’ “right” to dismember the babies having the nerve to inconvenience the mother by “invading” her body. We, as Americans, voted for people willing to fight to establish homosexuality as normative in our society. We have one of the most open and free election systems in the world, and this is where the people of this nation wish to go.
I wonder how much of this can be at least in part, laid at the feet of the church? I hear Christian radio stations talking positively about some of the filth Hollywood produces, as well as various TV programs that would have been shunned by secular America 50 years ago. We, as a church, watch the very forms of “entertainment” playing a major part in the eroding of our values. We send our children to be poisoned in the public school systems, knowing what lies there for their innocent minds. We pray, in front of the entire world, at the inauguration of the man promising to do the most to destroy what we stand for, and in the presence of an openly homosexual “minister”!!! We, as a church, sometimes back down in the face of charges of unreasonability and bigotry. We try to be “relevant” when we should be screaming in outrage. One could go on and on, and maybe I’ve gone on too long.
My point is that our religious freedoms cannot be taken away. Ever. You read that right. All that ever changes is the consequences for choosing as we do. Ask the early christians. They chose to obey Adonai over man. We are ALWAYS free to choose as we wish. We can choose to fight or roll over and stick our heads in the sand. We can choose to support the sin in society or fight it all the way to the grave. It is a choice we are ALWAYS free to make.
I appreciate ministries such as this that are willing to be “unreasonable” when it comes to sin and what is right.
Blessings,
Justin
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Thank you for being willing to be hated for the sake of truth.
I think this issue is teaching me about meekness and turning the other cheek. I teach in a humanities department where as my gay colleagues jokingly say, “You can’t swing a cat without hitting one of us.” I am very careful to affirm my colleagues in any manner I can that is consistent with my faith in Christ; I wonder, when I finally have to come out of the closet (as I surely will) about my belief that gay sexual unions are sin–will I get such careful, nuanced understanding in return? Perhaps not. How I handle this will likely be the greatest test of my 25-year faith. Thanks for your helpful program. I pray the Lord keeps you.
The gay issue is here to challenge biblical christianity within the church itself, and our foundational hope of eternal life. That’s how deep the issue goes. Gay-rights advocates tell us the bible isn’t reliable and hence their lifestyle isn’t sinful at the expense of the Christian faith.
I’ve debated so-called “gay christians” with thousands of posts and I summed up the observations of several bible-believing Christians in this web-blog post:
Scripture Refiner’s Fire
I just started a forum for spiritual healing and expository religious studies: The Voice of Truth Forum . It is NOT a debate forum.
yours truly SRF aka “Cosmic Traveler”
Dr. Brown,
I appreicate all your work and insights. I do have some concerns about this article. First, there is the danger of equating conservative with Christian. Now there is a higher correspondence of Christian believers with the political right (conservative movement) than the left. Put practical terms, there is more opposition to same sex marriage in the republican party than the democratic party. It strikes me that those who believe in tradtional marriage in the democratic party are marginalized.
We should also be careful not to equate the Canadian political system with that of the U.S. At the same time we should be aware of trends. Both in the United States and Canada acceptance of homsexuality is increasingly accepted by the public. Nonetheless, I suspect the acceptance of gay marriage by the population as a whole is something not accepted. The danger of course is that it is accepted. Dr. Brown’s string of incidents of persecution of those holding traditional Christian values represents the extreme end of the trend.
The comments of Georgetown University, lesbian law professor Chai Feldblum should be recognized not as the present condition of the law, but rather the statements of a gay activist with a law degree announcing further activism.
Christians are not in the closet. We are in both the republican and democratic parties, as well as outside both parties. There are many who are not Christian who recognize traditional marriage should be preserved. Political activism makes the minority seem stronger than it actually may be. At the same time, it would be a mistake to recognize a trend which has gone much further than it ought to have gone - Dr. Brown is spot on for sounding the alarm on this point.
The latest from Melanie Phillips, The sexualisation of heresy:
Full article here.
I am in fact an on fire for God born again beleiver and desciple of Jesus Christ and also was a regular attendant of the Brownsville revival in pensacola fla and furthermore I was powerfully delivered and set free from drugs and alcaholism and have been changed forever even dramatically so to the core – but im still not perfect and I still have issues of inperfection or sin as ALLL OF US AS CHRISTIANS DO I dont care who we are and all those who worship God must do so in spirit and truth and be real and be honest even as the one of the two who was standing at the alter cryed out - God have mercy on me , what a wretched man I am– I am a sinner and I fall short as any and alll of us — in & of ourselves we will always fall short with where it would pertain to “how good we are or arent”– And I AM AND ALWAYS HAVE BEEN SINCE A CHILD AND ALWAYS WILL BE A BI-SEXUAL WHITE MALE -BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY GHOST @ 15 YRS.OLD BY KATHERYN KUHLMAN powerfully born again thru david wilkersons ministry @ 15 yrs. old– prayed for by Randy clark , michael brown & all of brownsville teams and rodney howard brown and numerous many more and God has powerfully changed me dramatically but still I am a Bi- sexual in my heart- and the awesome Glory and Fire of Almighty God and His Holy Spirit and His Blood is and has been upon me MIGHTILY and He has shown me that He IS with me for me and not against me , never left me nor forsaken me and if God be for me than who can be against me—- Who is anybody any where to throw stones @ anybody anywhere about anything– who is anyone to JUDGE another mans servant?!!!!—this is an hour of Holy visitation and outpouring-and Ive been clean and sober for 14 yrs. and I have been radically changed But Im a real person in the real world and this Blood is for alll and JUSTIFIES ALLL AND IM JUST GONNA GO AHEAD AND SAY THIS UNDER THE UNCTION OF THE HOLY GHOST AND BE STRAIGHT AND BLUNDT AND TO THE HARDCORE POINT AND SAY OUTRIGHT THAT TO SAY THAT YOU ARE– ANTI-GAY —IS TO SAY (ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE)–THAT YOU ARE ANTI- GOD AS WELL!!! I WAS BORN AS i AM AND NOW– WARTS AND ALL I AM THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD AND THE RIGHTOUSNESS OF GOD (IN CHRIST JESUS)!!! uNDER HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD WHICH IS EVEN AS LIKE AS AN UMBRELLA EVEN TO THE GAY COMMUNITY AS WELL AS TO WHOSOEVER OF ANYONE ELSE WHO WOULD CHOOSE TO CALL UPON HIS NAME THAT HE WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT OR ASIDE OR DESPISE ANYONE,–ANYWHERE?!!! TO SAY THAT YOU CANT BE A HOMOSEXUAL AND BE A CHILD OF GOD IS LIKE TO SAY THAT YOU ARE NOT BORN AGAIN IF YOU SMOKE CIGAREETES OR IF YOUVE BEEN MARRIED THREE TO FIVE TIMES BEFORE THEN YOU ARE NOT A CHILD OF GOD FROM GENISIS TO REVELATION THE WORD ,–PRESSED DOWN SHAKIN TOGETHER RUNNING OVER ANNIHALATES STAUS QUO MAINSTREAM OPPINIONATED RELIGOUS IDEOLOGIES AND OR TOXIC THEOLOGY THAT HAS KEPT EXTREME NUMEROUS MASSES OF PEOPLE OPUT OF THE CHURCH WHO NEED TO BE IN THE HOUSE OF GOD THE MOST— DONTCHA THINK HIS HOUSE SHOULD BE A HOUSE OF MERCY INSTEAD OF A HOUSE OF CONDEMNATION?!!!! NUMEROUS ARE THOSE WHO THINK THEY ARE REALLY DOING GOD A SERVICE AND THEY USE HIS WORD AS WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION TO DRIVE PEOPLE OUT RATHER THAN DRAW THEM TO?!!! HOLINESS UNTO THE lORD IS OBTAINED STRICTLY BY FAITH IN THE FINISHED WORK OF THE CROSS— THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB THAT TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD—ALLL EXCEPT IF YOURE GAY?!!! NO GOD SO LOVED THAE WHOLE WORLD NOT JUST SOME PART HALF OR MOST OR ONLY THOSE THAT ARE THIS OR ONLY THOSE THAT—–WHOSOEVER MEANS TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF WHOSOEVER ANY AND OR ALLL THAT WOULD CALL UPON HIS NAME— TAKES AWAY ALL THAT IS WRONG WITH US AND ALLL ALLEGATIONS SHORTCOMINGS NAILS THEM TO THE CROSS PUBLIC SPECTICLE AND THEN CAST ALL OF OUR INIQUITIES AS FAR AS THE EAST IS TO THE WEST AND SO MUCH NUMEROUS MORE DOES THE WORD OF ALMIGHTY GOD ANNIHALATES ALL THE RELIGOUS CONDEMNATION THAT THE CHURCH HAS TOWARDS MINORITYS OR TOWARD PEOPLE THAT ARE DIFFERENT THAN YOU—- MANY ARE THOSE THAT WILL SIT AT THE TABLE OF THE MARRIGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB ACROSS FROM YOU WHO YOU WILL NEED TO APOLOGIZE TO BECAUSE GREAT AND DEEP AND BROAD AND INFINATELY ENDLESS IS HIS SKYS OF GREAT LOVE AND MERCY FOR ALL OF WHOSOEVER AND EVEN THE PASTORS WIFE FROM CEDAR RAPIDS IOWA @ THE BROWNSVILLE REVIVAL PROPESYED THAT THERE WOULD BE —NO-ONE THAT WOULD BE LEFT OUT,– THAT THERE ARE THOSE WHO WILL,-WILL AND THAT THERE ARE THOSE WHO WONT WONT. BUT THAT THE WORD SHE STATED SAID THAT LET HIM IS HOLY LET HIM BE HOLY STILL AND LET THOSE WHO ARE FILTHY BE FILTHY STILL—–THIS BLOOD AND OUTPOURINGS AND RAIN IS FOR WHOSOEVER WILL COME CAN COME AND DRINK FREELY AND JUST COME— HINDER NOT HIS CHILDREN THAT THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO JUST COME JUST AS THEY ARE AND LET GOD DECIDE WHAT HE WANTS TO DO WITH THERE LIVES—DONTCHA THINK FROM THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN TO THE LOWEST VALLEY—- THE STAINS ON ON WEDDING GARMENTS ARE CLEANSED AND MADE WHITE AND HOLY AND ACCEPTABLE BY THE BLOOD AND NOT BY ARE WORKS OR BY HOW GOOD WE CAN BE FOR GOD—PERHAPS WHEN YOU AND KILPATRICK GOT INTO IT ABOUT YOU JOINING THE ASSEMBLY OF GOD —YOU SHOULD HAVE JOINED BECAUSE YOU SEEM TO CARRY THE SAME MESSAGES OR “STANDARD OF REIIGOUS WORKS”
@Michael Bussard
But you’re not born gay… and that forgiveness comes from repentance, which means to turn away from things and go back to God. I really doubt the Holy Spirit lead you to write that those who are anti-gay are anti-God since that same Holy Spirit had people in the bible write about not being sexually immoral…
Anyway, great job on the writing Dr. Brown. A good Monday read before work!
Michael,
Baby, you are deceived. Read for yourself, Mark 7:15-23. I will pray that God will show you the truth, because only the truth can make you free. John 8:32
Dee,
Could you actually explain Mark 7:15-23 for us? And you might want to read John 8:31 for some context of what truth is.
God forbid we lose the right to discriminated…
Seriously, that’s how all your anti gay stuff ounds.
Thats what I’m talking about lol :)