Never have I felt more empathy with the sentiments of Jude: ‘Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints’ (Jude 3). There are far more wonderful things to write about, but the glossy campaign for same-sex marriages, aided and abetted by our obsequious media, demands yet another response – which, of course, does run the risk of giving the whole campaign yet more oxygen.
Let us begin with a short summary of the biblical position. It is surely clear enough. Homosexual unions are called an abomination by God (Lev.18:22). In the New Testament, they are said to be unnatural and vile (Rom.1:26-27) – the male is not designed for the male nor the female for the female. Design shows us that there is a Designer, and that a cow was not designed for a bicycle. Males and females are not replications of each other, but complementary of each other. Those who live out the homosexual lifestyle are deceiving themselves, and are outside the kingdom of God (1 Cor.6:9-10). The law is meant to curb such behaviour (1 Tim.1:8-10) and the gospel to save those who repent of it (1 Cor.6:11). The Bible endorses what ought to be obvious – that men and women are complementary in every respect, and that children are best raised in households where there is a husband and wife committed to one another.
When President Barack Obama recently announced his support for same-sex marriage, he decided that he would also reveal his talents as a reader of the Christian Scriptures. He stated that ‘The thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the golden rule – you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated.’ He added: ‘And I think that’s what we try to impart to our kids, and that’s what motivates me as president.’ One Liberal Member of Legislative Council here in NSW ventured into the same territory, and said: ‘I thought Jesus’ action in washing the feet of the poor and powerless is far more compelling than any later interpretations or readings.’ Our former Premier, Kristina Keneally, has also declared that as a practising Catholic with an informed conscience, her faith directed her to support same-sex marriages and the right for homosexuals to adopt children.
Anybody who has tried will know that it is far more difficult to reply to complete imbecility than it is to reply to a considered and reasoned argument. Where the Scripture has clearly spoken on the subject – as it has in a number of places – is where we should go to know the mind of God on this issue. On President Obama’s reading of the Golden Rule, we would have to give to all and sundry whatever they wanted. J. Gresham Machen pointed this out nearly a hundred years ago – it would mean that if a drunkard asked his drunken friend for another drink, the second drunk would be obliged to treat the first one as he himself would wish to be treated, and so another drink it would be. As for our very own local politician – if Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet means that He favoured homosexual marriage, we might as well give away trying to understand anything. Nothing would have any meaning. The ‘Stop’ sign could well be interpreted to mean ‘Drive as fast as you like’. In 1529 Martin Luther thought that he had cause to explode against Zwingli and accused him of torturing the Word of God. Luther claimed that one might just as well translate ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ as ‘In the beginning the cuckoo ate the hedge sparrow, feathers and all.’ O that Luther were with us now!
Those who oppose same-sex relationships of any kind are usually seen as intolerant. That is a strange argument. Last week I visited a man in hospital, and quite a few signs informed me that the hospital was a ‘Zero Tolerance Zone’ so far as abuse of the staff and patients was concerned. ‘Tolerance’ is, of course, one of those ‘weasel words’ which can be used to cover a multitude of sins. Nobody tolerates everything, but the homosexual lobby is fond of arguing that tolerance is a virtue. This is linked to the spurious demand for equality. In May the retired High Court judge, Michael Kirby, told the Senate inquiry into same-sex marriage that he was being treated as a second-class citizen because he could not marry his male partner. ‘Equality’ is something that sounds so right until we remember that we do not allow fifteen year olds to marry; we do not allow a brother to marry a sister; and we do not allow a man to marry multiple wives.
There is something desperately unhinged about all this. Homosexuality is not an identity but a behaviour. It is like adultery – it is what people do, not what they inherently are. Somehow, what homosexuals actually do has been removed from centre stage and it has all become an issue of rights. Homosexuals have hijacked the word ‘gay’, not because they are a happy people, but because they are trying to convince themselves and others that they are happy.
The result, if it is allowed to go their way, will be lunacy and tyranny. Already the Quebec Department of Justice is financing a homosexual group to maintain a registry of homophobic statements uttered by any of its citizens. There will be lessons in schools where homosexuality is extolled, and people will be coerced into going along with it. We may well live to come to see how far we have fallen. This is not about a Jesus-like love, equality, and tolerance; this is about a God-despising apostasy, depravity, and an unnatural lifestyle.