Same-Sex Marriage Wrong Is Still Wrong
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As a nation, we are steadily loosing the ability to differentiate right from wrong, and the word discriminate has taken on an aspect of tyranny, rather than "to make a clear distinction." Homosexuals have, in recent years, found it to their advantage to paint themselves as victims of discrimination with respect to equal rights. Where racial minorities, and women have struggled to gain equal protection under the law, homosexuals see the success of these groups as a precedent to help them achieve their perceived rights. Many Afro-Americans are incensed that homosexuals view their struggle as one of civil rights. I doubt their anger is based on little more than the selfish desire to keep sacred and unshared the ground they fought so hard to win, believing the treatment of homosexuals in America cannot compare to the treatment of Blacks. Our courts have made it clear that it is illegal to discriminate against any person based upon race, creed, color, or national origin and have extended the law to include gender, namely women, as well as a host of other classifications. In the case of race, color, national origin, and women these persons had no choice in being born otherwise. But, in the case of homosexuals, it has not been shown scientifically or by other reliable criteria that they are the way they are without the freedom to choose otherwise. Homosexuality is wrong. The Bible describes homosexual behavior as sinful. Society may choose a different description, but God will not be mocked, and any persons who are willfully disobedient to God’s commands will one day suffer His wrath and ultimately His judgment. America may seek to disassociate itself from its religious heritage but would do well to heed history’s warnings and the examples of nations who crumbled because of moral decline. If God chose to destroy the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sins (including homosexuality), he can surely choose to destroy America. In believing homosexuality is a sin, Christians must be cautious in speaking against homosexuality. I subscribe to the belief that God loves every individual, but He must separate Himself from sin. Just as God loves every Christian but does not condone his or her sins, God loves every homosexual without condoning the sin of homosexuality. Christians should strive to emulate God’s compassionate love and acceptance of others without endorsing immorality. The recent wave of homosexual marriages in the United States has prompted our President to call for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. If Congress should pass such an amendment, it could take years for the amendment to be ratified by the states. While I am not opposed to a constitutional amendment, it might be far more prudent for states to illegitimatize same-sex marriages, by defining marriage as proposed by President Bush. On a personal level, I have no vendetta against homosexuals. While I have no desire to persecute them, I also have no desire to grant them special considerations. I consider it the privilege of any person to choose whatever lifestyle suits him or her. If he or she chooses a lifestyle that offends my values, I can tolerate their choice insofar as that choice does not require me to compromise my beliefs or to condone their lifestyle. With respect to marriage, the Bible is my standard, and the Bible makes it clear that marriage is the union of a man and a woman. If fact, the Bible’s first book, Genesis, states, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." God has so sanctified and defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Regardless how America defines marriage, I’ll side with God.
Personal Ponderings By Bob Jackson The movie [The Passion Of The Christ] opened with some words from Isaiah 53 depicting that He [Christ] would go through all this for us. It was because of and for us that He went to the cross suffering earlier probably more physical abuse than the cross itself could do to Him. He was in the Garden of Gethsemane in the opening scene, and as you will remember, was in a deep emotional agony about what was facing Him. One could feel the humanness coming out in Him but also the strength of God in the ability to stand knowing full well what was coming. My first thoughts were that while Jesus was there—there was also and always Satan himself. In the movie Satan appeared to me dressed or disguised as a woman, which had no significance to me other than the fact that Satan gave no appearance of being a thing of outstanding beauty or one of total ugliness. Although in some scenes Satan appeared to have a more evil look than at other times, my thoughts were that Satan blended very well in the crowd with his looks, not necessarily being outstandingly noticeable. In other words, one might not be able to recognize that Satan is visibly in their presence. That’s exactly how I presume Satan to be active today. He may appear to be someone very much like the rest of the crowd. I do not recall Satan himself ever using any instrument of physical torture on Jesus, but he was there in his spirit to entice the crowd to do his bidding. And the people, Romans, Jews, or any one else present, indeed did do his bidding. I could not help but observe that Satan was having a "field day" during the entire movie until the last breath of Jesus. Up until that time, things were going his way, and he appeared to be winning. When Jesus took His last breath, it was evident to Satan that he really had not won but had in fact played a major role in his own defeat. Satan was clearly active in the movie playing several different roles such as himself, demons, and the enticer of the crowd for evil. While I thought of Satan’s role in the movie, it was clear that it is no different today in our modern generation. Satan is clearly not yet chained or finished. Though he has lost the final battle he is desperately fighting the skirmishes against us today, still trying to take souls to Hell with him when the time comes. He is by no means inactive. He still disguises himself in any manner to fit the times and purposes of the moment. We should still beware. As I viewed the violence, I thought about who was doing that to Him. As I watched the Roman soldiers who were playing the role in the movie of the torturers of Jesus, I thought, I was not there and I would not have done that to Him, but because I am a sinner, in effect, I did. As a matter of fact, so did you. I tried to separate the people involved in the scenes and their involvement in the process. I could not help but think that people in every walk of life were represented in the scene. In the role of Mary, I could not imagine anyone today who would be or could be playing that role as Mary herself actually did in the real life. But as for others, there were the onlookers, who presumed themselves to be innocent, taking no physical part. I would probably have to put myself in a role of this part. Then, there were others who were more involved such as the Jewish leaders. People that I consider "heavier" sinners than myself would have to fit in this role because I could not have imagined myself actually having a speaking role against Jesus. But it doesn’t really matter, because I was there. My sins were in the scene and many of them flashed before my eyes during the movie. Then there was the crowd that the Jewish leaders were "controlling" if nothing else because they were the leaders of the people. They had no actual torture or physical abuse part but they too were there. They just followed their leaders no matter what was said. They didn’t think for themselves. Then, there were the Roman soldiers. They were just doing their job as a Roman soldier. They could have refused to do this. Of course they may have joined Jesus and the two thieves on the cross but they could have refused, yet they did not. Several of these Roman soldiers were involved in the torturous brutality, which was applied to the body of Jesus, but they were the ones who seemed to actually receive pleasure from the cruelty that they themselves did. Even after the terrible beatings and humiliation that they put Jesus through, they all had a part in following up with the terrible act of Crucifixion. Many of them stood laughing at the foot of the cross and were ready to bestow more punishment at any time. Even Pilate, in his role made a show of washing his hands in order to say, "I am not guilty of this". He could have stopped this at any point, but he never even considered doing it. Jesus’ closest followers fled in fear for themselves, one even denied Him, some came back, but they all shied away from personal harm and played their parts. At the last breath of Jesus, Satan cried out in agony! He suddenly realized that as this process had "been accomplished" that he has an enemy that was greater than he is. He realized that Jesus was a winner in this story but also that all who would choose to follow Jesus then and in the future were winners too and would be forever lost to Satan. And there was nothing Satan could do about that. He also understands that there are many others that he can work on and seduce until he is once and for all put away in defeat. I thought that we "think" we live in a civilized world and that no one would ever do this kind of thing again or would ever be guilty of doing this to Jesus. But I also thought that times haven’t changed. Though we are in a modern society and live in a so-called civilized culture, it is still being done at the same level today. We still have religious leaders who are leading people in the wrong way and separating their people from the will of God. We still have government leaders who are just as wrong today as Pilate, but are only doing it in a different way. We still have people who are willing to follow whoever is leading in whichever way they are leading. We still have people who would be in the crowd just as curious people, not willing to stand for right. We still have people who would be willing to follow orders and issue orders to follow out with such a plan of cruelty today. We still have people who would be willing to actually speak out against Jesus today. We still have people who would be willing to actually inflict the blows on the body of Jesus and at the same time laugh about it. We still have people who would attempt to wash their hands and not be considered among the guilty. We still have people who consider themselves to be Christian and moral leaders who are so far off base in their thoughts and beliefs that they are guilty today of inflicting blows on the body of Jesus. And, I am still here, as a sinner, though forgiven, still sinning and inflicting punishment to Jesus. Things haven’t really changed. Modern day America is probably no different than old time Rome was. Modern day America is fighting and speaking out against Jesus more so than anytime in my lifetime. It is progressively moving faster in that direction. Our government leaders (many, not all) are openly denying anything of Jesus, God, or Christianity in any public place. And many of them are doing this while also speaking of "values". A whole group of people are openly defying the laws of God and America and are trying to change marriage and attempting to gain God’s acceptance while practicing evil ways and saying all the time that they are a product of God who created them in an unnatural way. And many of the "innocent" church-going people have been convinced that this is okay. Supreme Courts of the states and the nation have gone immoral while still trying to be politically correct. A major portion of the movie industry and the news media is openly speaking out against having a "trust in God" or the displaying of anything worthwhile in public places. Entire political parties are advocating the killing of unborn babies and still talking about family values. Some government officials are saying that it is not good to lie about the stock market but it’s okay to lie about your personal transgressions while in office. Some government officials are saying that is detestable to fight against evil in countries overseas where people are suffering cruelties but it is bad to fight against evil in the United States of America. In a nutshell, Jesus is still getting beat up on, and we are still denying we are having a part in it. I seem to remember Jesus saying something like, If you have done it unto the least of these-you have done it unto me." Now, I know that is not an exact quote and this quote was meant to apply to doing good things. But if you put that statement in it’s reverse meaning, we are just as guilty of doing "it" unto Him. We have crucified our Lord. True, He gave His life, but we also are guilty of taking it. That is a truth that will never change. Note: The preceding has been edited to accommodate the space limitations of this newsletter. The complete and original text can be found at www.rrnews.org/ponder_passion.htm.
Bodock Beau Dog's Tale & Blonde's Wail If one believes dogs can communicate with humans, it's only a slightly greater stretch to imagine the following scene. The Challenge Three handsome male dogs are walking down the street when they see a beautiful, enticing, female Poodle. The three male dogs fall all over themselves in an effort to be the one to reach her first, but end up arriving in front of her at the same time. The males are speechless before her beauty, slobbering on themselves and hoping for just a glance from her in return. Aware of her charms and her obvious effect on the three suitors, she decides to be kind and tells them "The first one who can use the words "liver" and "cheese" together in an imaginative, intelligent sentence can go out with me." The sturdy, muscular black Lab speaks up quickly and says, "I love liver and cheese." "Oh, how childish," said the Poodle. "That shows no imagination or intelligence whatsoever." She turned to the tall, shiny Golden Retriever and said "How well can you do? "Umm. I HATE liver and cheese," blurts the Golden Retriever. My, my," said the Poodle. "I guess it's hopeless. That's just as dumb as the Lab's sentence." She then turns to the last of the three dogs and says, "How about you, little guy?" The last of the three, tiny in stature but big in fame and finesse, is the Taco Bell Chihuahua. He gives her a smile, a sly wink, turns to the Golden Retriever and the Lab and says in a Spanish accent, "Liver alone. Cheese mine." The Blonde and the Cell Phone A young man wanted to get his beautiful blonde wife, Susie, something nice for their first wedding anniversary. So he decided to buy her a cell phone. He showed her the phone and explained to her all of its features. Susie was excited to receive the gift and simply adored her new phone. The next day Susie went shopping. Her phone rang and, to her astonishment, it was her husband on the other end. "Hi Susie," he said, "how do you like your new phone?" Susie replied, "I just love it! It's so small and your voice is clear as a bell, but there's one thing I don't understand though." "What's that, sweetie?" asked her husband. "How did you know I was at Wal-Mart?" Submissions by Ken Gaillard Share this article with a friend.
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those among us who choose to celebrate a deviate lifestyle and
promote such a lifestyle as acceptable, even normal. They believe that the
privilege of marriage between members of the same sex should be afforded
any who so choose, and in some parts of our country ministers, mayors, and
judges have seen fit to perform wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples.
Failure to grant these, whom society labels as homosexuals, their every wish
or whim is seen as discriminatory, and we’ve certainly seen what our
courts have to say regarding discrimination.
