Where is the push for same-sex marriage taking us? With the Supreme Court considering two questions concerning same-sex marriage, America may be altered for all time by the decision of the court.
For some time, opponents of same-sex marriage have told us that gay marriage is a slippery slope. They fear that opening the door to gays to marry will also open every other door as well. Polygamy and unions of every kind could be inevitable.
Notable people in this camp are Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Rick Santorum, and Bill O’Reilly. For the most part, these are people who the larger community has not heard or cared to hear.
Now, there is evidence that this is indeed the case. Earlier in the week Slate Magazine, an online magazine owned by the Washington Post Company, ran an article promoting polygamy. The author, Jillian Keenan, said “we can only hope” that same-sex marriage is a doorway to polygamy.
Unfortunately, polygamy is and has been a part of America. For the most part, it has gone under the radar in parts of Utah and Arizona among fundamentalist Mormons. With the rise of Muslims in America, we have many more polygamists. Keenan estimated 50,000-100,000 people involved in Muslim polygamy and thousands in Mormon polygamist families. Although these numbers may be overestimated, they show we already have work to do.
What can we do?
Recently, Al Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, suggested Christians respond now in these ways:
1. Hold tight to the truths of the Scriptures. Do not grow weary.
2. Honor a biblical understanding of marriage by remaining faithful to your respective spouse.
3. Continue raising your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
4. Share the Good News of the Gospel with all people. Be winsome but be bold.
Jim Daly of Focus on the Family said: “This is going to become more difficult. But it is also a defining moment in the history of the church, and we must rise to the occasion to meet it with courage and a spirit of strong conviction.”
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2 Responses
I would sum up your wise words with my short phrase and challenge:
Live the Debate!
Yes, for you new readers, this is a subject and challenge I have chimed in with Dr. Bailey as my own challenge and offered it to others, as I hold Dr. Bailey up as an example even as the Apostle Paul held himself up to his congregation as an example until they realized for themselves: The Mind of Christ.
This is a winnable debate but it will not be won in isolation, without the Tools God in Christ has provided. Thus we have had instructions from Christ to His Disciples with “a New Commandment.” Why do you think it was “New?” Hadn’t he already said the “Greatest Commandment and the second is like unto it?” Hadn’t the “Royal Law” already been stated? Did not the Law cover this Mitzvot, this requirement of God?
We are commanded to use, to offer ourselves in a new way. We see admonitions and directions concerning the manifestations of this New Commandment. Perhaps someone can direct me to a better explanation in Scripture than found in Romans 12 with the particular explication in Romans 12:5.
As an example of like mindedness in your point this morning Dr. Bailey, this is how family Pshchologist John Rosemond presented the purpose of parenting earlier this year:
How do you pass your values onto your children? From the earliest possible time in their lives, you talk about your values and you explain how they comprise your code for living. Why do you donate the one hundred dollar bill you found blowing in the wind to the local homeless shelter? Why don’t you allow your children to watch certain movies and television shows? You explain to your children that your definitions of right and wrong, your decisions, and your opinions about various maters are based on certain core principles. Your ability to articulate those principles clearly enough that a 5-year old can understand them reflects that you are clear on them yourself. And you not only talk about your values, but you walk your talk. There’s no room for “Do as I say, not as I do” in an ethical worldview.
This is the process by which you shape your child’s character, by which you produce a good citizen, someone who will make the community a better place. Everything else — grades, athletic accomplishments, artistic talents, and so on– is secondary. Raising a mathematically and musically gifted and talented child who wins a scholarship to Harvard is fine, but when all is said and sone, good parenting is simply an act of love for your neighbor.
Make no mistake, no matter how well you communicate your worldview to your children, they will think for themselves, and from a very early age. They will even make decisions that will cause you to scratch your head in wonder or weep with sorrow. Parenting is an influence; it does not determine the outcome. Even the most well parented (by whatever standard) child is capable, on any given day, of acting in ways that are completely inconsistent with his or her upbringing. That fact, if not fully accepted, can generate lots of parental frustration, lots of parental guilt, or lots of both…
I hear in his words the “ring of truth.” I hear the echo of the Shema, Duet . 6: 4 and following, The Words of Christ from the Mount, the Words of John, the Words of Paul in Romans 12 and many other passages. The United States of America is ours to loose in Christ, just as the Jefferson Parish Museum handed down from my Father, inspired by God, is mine to loose to moth, rust, mold, mildew, adversarial vanity and greed.
Studies on the growth of Islam, Latter-day Saints (LDS, Mormonism of Joseph Smith), etc. show that their growth comes from “conservative christians” and that means Baptists. I recall the words of Dr. R. E. (Ed) Glaze who told his New Testament Greek Class many things about being a leader and representing God. Among those pearls of wisdom he said, “I am a Southern Baptist because the tenants of this denomination are the best expression of what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me about what God requires as stated in Scripture. If another denomination expresses God’s requirements better, then that is what I will be.” His words described precisely my journey, my quest, my worship.
May I ask your readers rhetorically, are they loyal to an animism Tribal view or is their affiliation one of His Spirit Charged with the “Great Commission” which is what I have been writing in all before and after this? The tools used to promote “harmony” in a fellowship, define it.
The storm yesterday pealed back about five feet of skylight at the Museum. We go to post opt wound care today. Thank you Lord for your provision. The rain falls on the Just and the unjust. Thanks be to God for Your Difference.
Blessings
Meg Whitman, CEO of HPQ, posted today elements in turning a company around. Here is one several observations she wrote recently:
When I arrived at HP, I found a company divided into silos. These divisions cut across geography and business groups, but were particularly prevalent between management and employees.
Nothing symbolized this disconnect more than our executive offices and what I called the “commando fence” – a large fence outfitted in barbed wire surrounding our executive parking lot. The walled offices and military-style fence represented just how far HP had departed from the culture of the company’s founders.
One of the first things I did was tear down the fence and move all of our executives into cubicles. We now walk in the same door as the rest of our employees. This was symbolic of the kind of culture that we wanted to build. And in organizations as large as ours, symbolism actually matters. What you communicate by your actions – the things that are visible to 320,000 people – makes a real difference.
Perhaps there are messages in her observations for all of us.
Incidentally, last year when HPQ sank to below 12, I bought a thousand shares for my mother. I did this mostly on the strength of her character when news broke at the time.
Blessings