5/30/2012

Response, The Christian Kind

It is apparent that Conservative Christian circles are losing the debate on Gay Marriage.  No, let me correct myself, it is not a loss, but rather a slaughter.  This slaughter is manifesting itself through everyday conversation between friends, the work place, the unholy spirit of the world we named the internet and most importantly in the courts.  Now you may point out that there have been wins for Conservative Christians in the courts as there was in California.  True, but one must ask whether this shall last.  The only reason gay marriage could be voted down is because it makes guys feel weird (which, I may add, is a totally legitimate reason).  So, the CCs must not pretend that there is a revival approaching; they must see that they are out of ammo as far as convincing the judges to favor them.

Their opponents (Liberals we will call them), however, are thriving with glee as they protest protests, do MTV coming out shows, declare war on bullying (which is deliciously ironic), give Dan Savage his own TV show and let transgender persons compete for Miss America.  They have bountiful victories and they aren't going to stop now.  They dominate the internet with cute memes that straw man the CCs so as to make us doubt and be ashamed of our Old Testament bigotry.  We, the intolerant see two options: 1) Move to North Idaho and remove ourselves from society and occasionally make official statements about gays going to hell to then be made fun of by the world, or 2) join the "enlightened" and make the world a better place by holding their opinions, since that will make everybody happy.  Yes, we are the ones that cave.  The war mongers and bigots are the ones that submit to the peace loving Liberals, because our post-enlightened sensibilities see it as logical, based  upon the ancient Zen like wisdom of  no-harm-no-foul.

That is their argument.  That is their template for morality.  Gay marriage will not hurt anybody.  Will Gay Marriage inflict physical harm on anybody?  Directly, no.  Indirectly, likely, but no more than an average heterosexual marriage would.  Does that make it morally sound?  That has yet to be argued by the Liberals; currently, they are just trying to make it legal for civil matters.  I believe they know that the courts do not decide morality, but the object is make us believe that they do.  Otherwise, if we ever got that philosophical ball rolling they know exactly where it would take them.  But it wont happen.  We are not a nation that concerns ourselves with what is morally right and true.  Instead we shout at our friends, family, enemies and government, "My rights!  My rights!  I deserve my rights!", never once stopping to ask whether or not we are deserving of anything.  It happens thus, and it wont ever change unless America falls like the nations have before it.  If the people are obliterated then so are the ideas they hold.

What then?  Are we CCs to pray for nuclear war?  I'll be honest that I have thought of it, but it seems too easy.  If we don't join these Liberals, then we get made fun of and wait for the slim chance of utter destruction that wont occur in our life times.  Strangely, this is the least of a CCs problems.  We, who have claimed Christ as our Lord and savior, who have passed from death to life, have different things to think about.  Though our soul has been taken care of, there is always more to be learned from Christ.  We must discover how to live as Christians in this world, and let us not say we have not received teaching.  In Matthew 10.22, Jesus tells us how we "will be hated by all for his name's sake".  He tells us how "they will persecute you in one town" and to "flee to the next".  Jesus saw this coming.  He knows us and them very well.  So basically this treatment we receive now is in our job description.  We shall not be surprised, appalled or indignant.  We should expect persecution, for the pagans grow greater and greater in numbers everyday.  This is routine just as war, famine, genocide and peace are routine.  From the moment two people are created they immediately gain different opinions acquired by their perspectives, and almost just as soon they think themselves right and the other wrong.  This is the nature and the way of the beast; the beast that shall be named the Pride of Life.

Frankly, Conservative Christians have wasted time being all too conservative and not enough Christian.  We have landed in a rut thinking that if we control the White House then we control the minds of the people, as if rebellion and revolution never occurs against a righteous ruler.  We have played the world's game with the world's rules and inevitably we lose under the world's definitions.  We have nurtured our own Pride of Life and attempted to appeal to the masses with our social return to the law and tragically the dirt has been rubbed in our face.  So, we ask, "What are we to do?"  Is it despair from here on out?  It does not have to be.  We are instructed to be joyful in all persecution, whether the sting is physical, mental or emotional we must have joy.  Death, because of Christ, has lost it's sting and we have nothing left to fear but our imminent God, the one to whom we owe all we have, and made of ourselves.  The joy has tactical use as well.  If we are joyful we can be loving.  If we are loving our enemies we are "heaping burning coals on their heads".

To wind this down a little bit, personally, I see gay marriage legal in at least some states if not many, and we can expect many other perverse behaviors being declared legal by the state and moral by the people.  Gird your loins because this will get weird.  Use that weird feeling and vote against it.  Don't cave to it, and don't be a Westboro Baptist.  Be joyful.  Though I do not know if the end of the world is nigh, I do know the end of YOUR world is nigh.  Use your timely wisely.  Do not be a fool.  Be a servant of Christ.