PMT 2014-024b by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In our current environment we are facing a number of moral issues that are politically-charged. Some of these are issues directly affecting our everyday lives here in America; others involve issues appearing in other cultures and nations of our world which can indirectly affect our political situation.

Like the demon Christ confronted (Mark 5:9), the moral issues the world faces today are Legion. They include: convenience abortions, neonatal infanticide, doctor-assisted suicide, homosexual relationships, non-marital childbearing, sexual promiscuity, sexual cohabitation, family breakdowns, latch-key children, child abuse, domestic violence, reproductive cloning, embryonic research, genetic engineering, organ farming, racial discrimination, human trafficking, rampant criminality, drug trafficking, substance abuse, rampant pornography, Islamic terrorism, cultural genocide, forced slavery, political torture . . . and more.

Obviously I cannot deal with all of these issues in this one short study. So in this one I will have to focus on one, pressing moral problem by way of explaining and illustrating our precarious social and political circumstances, while highlighting the pattern of Christian political concern.

Thankfully many Christians have been battling abortion for several decades, so that this issue is well-known to the Christian community and well-represented in political battles. This is literally a political life-and-death issue. Christians must continue in this battle against abortions since it destroys innocent human lives for the mere purpose of convenience. Furthermore, a tragic side-effect of abortion rates in America is that abortion is effectively causing black genocide. A February 24, 2010 CNN report backed up a prior ABC report noting this problem. Matthew Balan commented on CNN’s observation regarding the high figures for black abortions:

“Those figures that you cite from 2008 would seem to be in line with the CDC findings- Centers for Disease Control findings — from 2006, which found 57.4 percent of abortions in Georgia were performed on black women, even though African-Americans only make up 30 percent of the population.”

Since the abortion problem is well-known and long-battled, what I will do in this chapter is focus on one key moral issue of legal and political consequence: the homosexual rights revolution. This is a lively political debate that is intensifying almost daily. In fact, we are at a crucial time for confronting it, for it may be our last opportunity to resist it. I will mention the political significance for our time first, then focus on the dangers of the homosexual revolution.

We are at the very height of the homosexual revolution, and this means that we are at a crucial turning point for our culture and our nation. Most historians agree that the Gay Rights Movement was ignited on June 28, 1969. On that date over forty years ago a series of spontaneous and violent demonstrations erupted against an early morning police raid of a gay bar. This episode became known as the Stonewall Riots in that the raided bar was the Stonewall Inn located in the Greenwich Village area of New York City.

We have come a long way since then. Today the list of homosexual demands sought is growing, from the repeal of sodomy laws and social recognition to the right to marry the same sex, adopt children, serve openly in the military, seek government funding for sex change operations, and more. This explosive change should not have been unexpected. In 2004 Robert Benne and Gerald McDermott warned:

“It is a superficial kind of individualism that does not recognize the power of emerging social trends that often start with only a few individuals bucking conventional patterns of behavior. Negative social trends start with only a few aberrations. Gradually, however, social sanctions weaken and individual aberrations became a torrent.”

Today we are under a full-scale, frontal assault from the left and homosexual-rights advocates. In an article titled “Is the Gay Marriage Debate Over?” Mark Galli noted:

“Seemingly out of nowhere, gay marriage advocates have won stunning judicial, legislative, and social victories. Connecticut began granting marriage certificates to spouses of the same gender in November 2008. In April 2009, Iowa’s high court ruled that banning gay marriages was unconstitutional, and gay couples began lining up at Iowa court houses. The Vermont legislature legalized gay marriage that same month, while Maine and New Hampshire legalized gay marriage in May.”

Gradually same-sex marriage has been receiving legal status in a growing number of nations. The Dutch parliament passed the first national legislation to allow same-sex marriage and adoption in December, 2000. In rapid succession after that, homosexual marriage became a legal right in Belgium (2003), Spain (2005), Canada (2005), South Africa (2006), Norway (2008), Sweden (2009), Argentina (2010), Portugal (2010), and Iceland (2010).

The issue is currently being vigorously pressed in America. In 2004 Vermont became the first state to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. California allowed such for awhile (June 16, 2008 to November 4, 2008) until voters passed Proposition 8 prohibiting them. Maryland recognizes homosexual marriages but does not grant them licenses. Washington, D.C., Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York grant marriage licenses. Twelve states currently forbid same-sex marriages by statute and twenty-nine by constitutional amendment.

Most would agree with Mark Hensch who recently noted that “the Pew Research Center released a new poll Thursday that shows the culture war over same-sex marriage won’t be cooling down anytime soon.” In fact, Amanda Winkler has noted regarding the recent Associated Press and National Constitution Center poll: “the poll concludes that 53 percent of the 1,000 adults surveyed believe the government should give legal recognition to marriages between couples of the same sex. In comparison, 44 percent were opposed. It was just in 2009, according to AP, that the majority rested on the side of opposition.”

The Internet even boasts a number of “Christian” gay sites. One such site, ChristianGays.com boldly states:

“Christian Gays is a community for ALL, including LGGBTTIQQEU2AA (Lesbian, Gay, Genderqueer, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Intersex, Queer, Questioning, Eunuch, Undecided, 2-Spirited, Asexual, and Allied), and while we are absolutely Christian-based, we also believe strongly in Christ’s acceptance and support of all, so you will find information and support here for faiths other than Christianity. We range in age from 13–96.”

As Christians concerned for our nation, we must recognize the moral collapse going on all around us. And where appropriate we must confront these matters in the political realm. Homosexual rights is certainly one of the leading moral-political issues of our times.

Tagged: homosexuality, national culture