Sunday, July 27, 2008

A Worst-Case Scenario on Gay Marriage

Personally, I have some libertarian leanings. I tend to think that adults should be free to do what they want with their own bodies, without interference from government. I tend to favor having no laws against the personal use of drugs, prostitution, abortion, sodomy, etc. as long as partakers in such vices don’t violate the rights of anyone else. Let them do what they want and face the natural consequences; after all, they usually do anyway.

But for our civilization to officially, openly embrace gay marriage, celebrate these sinful unions, and give them the stamp of normalcy to confuse the hell out of our children is the sign of a civilization that is starting to get really sick. With such thumbing of the nose at God and his consequent withdrawal of blessings from us, Satan will be freer to use this warped situation to do as much damage as possible. Personally, I think this issue could eventually turn today's worldly political correctness into tomorrow's persecution and mob mentality against those who don’t conform.

My prediction is that homosexuality could be to Mormonism in the 21st century what polygamy was to us in the 19th, only in reverse. In the 19th century, we espoused a principle that the civilization at large could not abide, and civilization eventually pressured us into abandoning it. In the 21st century, civilization is espousing a principle that Mormonism cannot abide, and civilization will try to pressure us to accept it with every bit as much force as they used to get us to abandon polygamy, and perhaps worse. But instead of driving us to comply like we did to get statehood, it will instead make us dig our heels in deeper and ultimately perhaps cause us to part ways.

I think within a decade or two you’ll find the church isolated and embattled because we refuse to accept gay marriage, the homosexual lifestyle and agenda, and accompanying legislation, which I imagine may have progressed to the federal constitutional level by then. I think we’ll see sanctions against those who don’t comply, such as closing our temples for refusing to perform gay marriages—and if that’s not possible legally, I think people will take so-called justice into their own hands. I predict that the pressure will weed out many worldly-leaning Mormons from the flock and prompt many faithful Mormons to leave the big metropolitan areas, especially on the coasts, and gather together elsewhere for safety and protection from the storm. We may even find the church itself officially disenfranchised or outlawed at some point, but if so then it will continue on an underground basis.

Why do I think this? Because the increasingly secular, irreligious world needs a seemingly moral cause to replace the religion they have rejected and assuage their consciences, and Satan is setting up gay marriage as a false cause that tricks people all too easily, even those with some religious sympathy. He is making it seem like accepting and embracing homosexuality is the next logical step in a progressive civilization, and anyone who stands in the way will be mowed down with even more vehemence than that with which racists and other bigots are castigated in today’s politically correct atmosphere. There’s some validity in political correctness, of course, but Satan’s twisting it and taking it too far, using it to deceive people into defending and celebrating a sin. God will not support the civilization in this like I believe he did during the black civil rights movement, and so it will all turn nasty and evil.

I do not predict that the church will ever back down on the gay issue. Some Mormons are saying that the church backed down on blacks and it’s just a matter of time before we back down on gays, and we’ll all feel so stupid and ashamed for resisting. However, you never saw the church resist the black civil rights movement in any officially coordinated way, although some individual leaders expressed concern. By contrast, on the gay issue the church is clearly ramping up for the fight, and I’m sure we’ll go the distance even if we end up getting knocked out of the ring. I think most other anti-gay religious groups will eventually crumble under the social pressure, and we’ll be left standing mostly alone.

If gay marriage survives in California this fall, I think it will be a real tipping point. (For those who don't know, according to Wikipedia the term tipping point describes "a point at which a slow gradual change becomes irreversible and then proceeds with gathering pace. It is derived from the metaphor of a rigid solid object being tilted to a point where it begins to topple.") I think 2008 could go down in history as a major turning point that puts us on a faster track to the chaos and calamities of the last days. In related news, this year may also mark a turning point with regards to an economic downturn from which we might never fully recover, given the unprecedented perfect-storm pressures of debt and energy and climate and so forth. And who knows what change will be wrought by this fall’s presidential election, the results of which may lead us into new situations that, in retrospect, will look like additional major turning points?

If our civilization does manage to mostly recover from all these negative trends or otherwise delay the inevitable, then 2008 will have been a preview for when things really do start devolving faster into the next level of the last days. But frankly, I think President Hinckley got out just in time.

Here’s a link to some solid stuff on homosexuality and gay marriage.

8 comments:

Marsha Ward said...

Yesterday, Blogger didn't like me and ate my comment. It was pithy, witty, and to the point. Well, maybe not witty. All in all, I agree with you, so I'll leave it at "Amen!" And copy this into my whatchumacallit so I can try again if Blogger has the hate on for me.

Christopher Bigelow said...

Thanks, Marsha. I find that this issue clams up a lot of Mormons, who don't want to come across as bigoted or intolerant or whatever. I get private e-mails of support but not much public. But I think most of us will find that we're eventually going to have to take a stand on this difficult issue, and it ain't likely to be comfortable for us.

And by the way, I think we should be nice to individual gays, especially when they're trying to repent, but I think we gotta be tough about the gay movement in general.

Anonymous said...

Glossary Definition

Homosexuality

"We believe that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God. We believe that marriage may be eternal through exercise of the power of the everlasting priesthood in the house of the Lord.

"People inquire about our position on those who consider themselves so-called gays and lesbians. My response is that we love them as sons and daughters of God. They may have certain inclinations which are powerful and which may be difficult to control. Most people have inclinations of one kind or another at various times. If they do not act upon these inclinations, then they can go forward as do all other members of the Church. If they violate the law of chastity and the moral standards of the Church, then they are subject to the discipline of the Church, just as others are.

"We want to help these people, to strengthen them, to assist them with their problems and to help them with their difficulties. But we cannot stand idle if they indulge in immoral activity, if they try to uphold and defend and live in a so-called same-sex marriage situation. To permit such would be to make light of the very serious and sacred foundation of God-sanctioned marriage and its very purpose, the rearing of families" (Ensign, Nov. 1998, 71).

This is the official Church position on homosexuality from mormon.com. For the sake of clarification, my question to you is, "Is the person with the inclination a sinner or is acting on those inclinations a sin or is it both?"
I can't quite tell from your statement.

Also I would like your definition of a gay agenda. Other than being force to listen to Broadway music, drink wine, eat cheese and dress better, I can't imagine what that agenda might be.

Christopher Bigelow said...

Larry, isn't it pretty old news by now that feeling the temptation isn't a sin, but acting on it is?

As far as the gay agenda, don't you think gay marriage might be part of that? Also anything or anyone else who seeks to gain acceptance for the homosexual lifestyle in our society. The gay agenda or movement or activism or whatever you want to call it started about 30 years ago, soon after the 60s cracked things open.

Anonymous said...

Chris,

You should have ended your entry with a link to a YouTube clip of Eurythmics' "Sex Crimes (1984)".

This was quite an apocalyptic vision and I hope, if it turns out to be accurate, that it moves at a geologic pace. As for your comment regarding the weaker members falling off the vine, that's already pretty evident. I think I'm witnessing it in spades on my Nine Moons entry (Holy geez-- if I knew it was going to be like this, I'd have kept my mouth shut!). Sometimes I feel like an unenlightened dinosaur 'cause I just don't get the twisted logic of the ex's and anti's and disillusioned and active-but-anti gay members.

Tim Malone said...

Amen! I pronounce you a prophet. Is it just old guys like me that feel this way? I have to laugh at your last line. I wonder how this is viewed from the spirit world and what kind of activities are taking place there in preparation for the changes you predicted we will soon be experiencing here.

David: I tried to add some support to your essay about being blessed because of your obedience / submissiveness to the Stake President when I added my witness to Seth's comment that he too felt blessed for his obedience. I have seen the same thing in my life over and over again - directly in my work. I also do not get the weird logic of those who oppose same-sex marriage.

Michael Paul Bailey said...

Imagine if the church dedicated these sorts of resources to things that actually matter. Imagine if they focused on things like AIDs in Africa, Darfur, prostitution slave trade, and so many others. Instead, the church stays aloof of political issues until something like the ERA or same-sex marriage comes along. This sickens me.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait until until the day when people so strongly devoted to church spend as much time passionately writing about taking care of the poor, and the greatest sign of a "sinful" nation - which is how our nation treats "the least of these."

Remember when some guy said that if you do it to the least of these you do it to me, or how he also said that those who would be welcomed to God's sight on the day of judgment weren't those who had kept all the "laws" or spent all their time judging the lives and actions of everyone else but rather those who had fed the hungry, clothed the naked, fed the sick and visited those in prison.

How many times have you devoted your blog post to challenging the pattern of institutionalized classism in our society and its attitudes toward the poor? Where are the posts about actions and advocacy for the poor and in need?

Count up the number of times the bible even discusses homosexuality, and count the number of times Jesus discusses it. Then count of the number of times it discusses how the poor should be treated... I'll give you a hint, its the single most discussed topic in the bible.

One day the church will get a clue. Wake me up when you are serious about the things the holy books really stand for, and not fixating on single issues of sticking your nose in other peoples business.