Defending the persecuted...
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Defending the persecuted
Last week my wife and I had the amazing privilege to spend a few hours in the company of some extraordinary young women and then on another occasion a wonderful man. The ladies were college students and the man was a successful young professional. They told us what it is like to be "considered different" in their native land. Because of what they believe, and due to their conversion as teenagers to this new belief system, they can be ostracized by family and friends, they have restricted legal protections compared with their fellow countrymen. For instance: when they fall in love and wish to make a life-long commitment to their partner they are legally prohibited because their new beliefs run contrary to the national religion. If they do go somewhere else and marry and return to their place of birth, and their spouse was to become terminally ill, their spouse's immediate family would have the right to exclude them from the hospital and any funeral services that followed. They would have no legal rights to inherit or even enjoy their spouse's Health benefits. They cannot enter into any legally binding agreement as other married couples do in their land. In all other ways they are highly respected, hard working, model citizens. But because of what they believe they are hounded and persecuted by the State due to religious leaders influence on national and local politics.
I am, of course, speaking of three Homosexuals who generously shared with us what it is like to be Homosexual in America in the 21st Century.
The reason I used the word "generous" was because they knew we had been Missionaries, that I was still a Minister, and that we were both self-confessed Christians. For all three of them those titles immediately provoked suspicion that we were probably unrepentantly homophobic.
The reason I used the word "generous" was because they knew we had been Missionaries, that I was still a Minister, and that we were both self-confessed Christians. For all three of them those titles immediately provoked suspicion that we were probably unrepentantly homophobic.
If these young people were in a foreign country and experiencing this kind of persecution because of their Christian beliefs we would be up in arms. We would clamor for political reform at an International level. We would use all of considerable political influence within our own Government to force change.
I'm a Christian, and for me that means I shouldn't sit by while persecution and intolerance take place before my eyes.
Over 50 years ago, people of many colors and creeds joined together to banish a lingering scourge from the land of America. They spoke forcibly against racial segregation. Some of them were murdered, others were imprisoned, still others lost their livelihoods for stating that "all people are created equal under God!”
Many of those who stood up, did so because their faith demanded it. For some it was a question of obedience to the tenants of their Faith and a submission to the will of their God. Many Christian ministers joined the ranks of the Freedom Riders. They fought for equality for all of God's children and some of them paid a heavy price for their compassion.
The two young college students we met happened to be Black. They used the 1960's as an example for why Heterosexuals like us need to speak out for their civil rights. They said that it wasn't until White people started publicly protesting and even dying for the cause of freedom that the national conscience of America was truly awakened.
So here is me publicly standing by my friends:
But what do we do to defend marriage? It is tragically true 44% of evangelical protestants get divorced in America and it is true that, this statistic is a death knell for traditional marriage in the 21st Century.
It is a reasonable statement that a healthily "committed couple" is still the best platform we have discovered to raise children into healthy adults. I also believe that it has probably never been more needed to find ways to legally defend the concept of marriage from what is systemically undermining it in our society.
But I think the cause of the decline in marriages is mainly the fault of heterosexual men who refuse to honor the commitments they made on their wedding day.
An alternative version of "DOMA" could speak to how Heterosexuals behave inside the bonds of marriage. Instead of that alternative, we Christian leaders tend to excuse and explain the selfishness and insecurities that are prolific among Christian men as simply the natural and understandable failings of all men. While we admit this is against the teachings of our Faith, we do little to stamp the practice out, either in our own churches or in society in general. Until a man actually gets caught cheating on his wife he can easily retain his moral and social standing within Christianity without any real peer admonishment or serious fear of indictment.
Over 50 years ago, people of many colors and creeds joined together to banish a lingering scourge from the land of America. They spoke forcibly against racial segregation. Some of them were murdered, others were imprisoned, still others lost their livelihoods for stating that "all people are created equal under God!”
Many of those who stood up, did so because their faith demanded it. For some it was a question of obedience to the tenants of their Faith and a submission to the will of their God. Many Christian ministers joined the ranks of the Freedom Riders. They fought for equality for all of God's children and some of them paid a heavy price for their compassion.
The two young college students we met happened to be Black. They used the 1960's as an example for why Heterosexuals like us need to speak out for their civil rights. They said that it wasn't until White people started publicly protesting and even dying for the cause of freedom that the national conscience of America was truly awakened.
So here is me publicly standing by my friends:
"I belief my Homosexual friends have every right to be legally married, to have all of my heterosexual civil right protections, and to be recognized by the government at both the Federal and State levels. I think DOMA is one of the most blatantly homophobic, intolerant and shameful pieces of legislation to pass Congress since they revoked the Jim Crow laws of the 20th Century."
But what do we do to defend marriage? It is tragically true 44% of evangelical protestants get divorced in America and it is true that, this statistic is a death knell for traditional marriage in the 21st Century.
It is a reasonable statement that a healthily "committed couple" is still the best platform we have discovered to raise children into healthy adults. I also believe that it has probably never been more needed to find ways to legally defend the concept of marriage from what is systemically undermining it in our society.
But I think the cause of the decline in marriages is mainly the fault of heterosexual men who refuse to honor the commitments they made on their wedding day.
An alternative version of "DOMA" could speak to how Heterosexuals behave inside the bonds of marriage. Instead of that alternative, we Christian leaders tend to excuse and explain the selfishness and insecurities that are prolific among Christian men as simply the natural and understandable failings of all men. While we admit this is against the teachings of our Faith, we do little to stamp the practice out, either in our own churches or in society in general. Until a man actually gets caught cheating on his wife he can easily retain his moral and social standing within Christianity without any real peer admonishment or serious fear of indictment.
Recently the conversations in my life have circled back around to the topic of sexuality and how the Church and the organized expressions of The Church ought to respond to this question. Below are two links, that discuss two opposing ways of understanding what The Bible says about homosexuality.
I'm being deliberately biased by offering up two very lopsided defenses.
Tim Keller is one of our greatest Christian Apologists in America to those under 30. I offered up a very brief U-Tube video of him responding tangentially to this issue.
The other link is to a college student who dropped out of Harvard to spend time trying to find a coherent answer in Scripture for why he should be permitted to be both a passionate follower of Jesus Christ and also a practicing Homosexual.
A College student's defense of Homosexual Christians in the Church - http://matthewvines.tumblr.com/
Tim Keller's erudite and shorter explanation of a more traditionally held view within Christianity - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZFCB9sduxQ
I completely agree with Tim Keller on what Romans 1 says. But I also feel strongly that anyone should be able to marry whomever they please without asking my permission as a Christian Minister!
I'd like to include two links from (serious, evangelical,) homosexual Christians. One explains his view that homosexual Christians can marry without offending God. The other one is convinced they cannot.
ReplyDeleteNote that NEITHER claims that you cannot be both, homosexual and Christian.
http://www.gaychristian.net/justins_view.php
http://www.gaychristian.net/rons_view.php
If there were tons of testimonies of homosexuals who God made "straight" after they became Christians, the issue would be easier. However, there are tons of testimonies of people who at first thought and proclaimed they were cured, but found out over time that their sexual orientation hadn't changed after all. We as Christians are to bring God's love to the lost and we have to deal with this issue!