America's Supreme Theophobia (and more thoughts on the Same-Sex "Marriage" Decision)

"Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who
frame injustice by statute?" (Psalm 94:20)

by Steve C. Halbrook

Some thoughts in light of the Supreme Court's wicked ruling in favor of same-sex "marriage":

• A theophobic decision
  
  
  Many hold that anti-sodomite laws, or laws that do not favor same-sex lifestyles, are bigoted — with their proponents being  "homophobes."  Of course, if one is a "phobe" for opposing something (in this case, same-sex behavior), then those who call others homophobes are actually by their own standards "homophobe-phobes."
  
  
  And actually, since God hates same-sex acts, then to support them is theophobia — hatred for God. This describes much of America. And the five Supreme Court justices reflected this hatred in their theophobic decision to support same-sex "marriage."
  
  

• The myth of toleration
  
  Intolerance is inescapable; the moment one thing is tolerated, that which opposes it is not. The very concept of equal toleration for all is self-defeating; it is intolerant towards the intolerant. The notion that "one cannot impose his views on others" is itself an imposition of a view; it imposes the view that says that we cannot impose. In an "inclusivistic" political system, inclusivists exclude exclusivists.
  
  Those, then, who promote same-sex "marriage" in the name of tolerance are fiercely intolerant of God and Christians. 

• Christians learning the hard way about the myth of neutrality
  
  
  Christians are learning the hard way that adhering to the concept of religious/ethical neutrality in civil matters does not lead to reciprocation on the part of non-Christians. We have already pointed out the fallacy of equal toleration, and it must also be noted that we are either with Christ or against Him; and thus our laws will either be with Him or against Him.
  
  Indeed, the concept of neutrality bends the laws of logic, violates the law of God, and simply leads to the oppression of the church by God's enemies. When Christianity is not assumed by the state as the only true religion and as having the only true source of law (Scripture), then anti-Christianity is assumed in its place. For more, see the next point.
  
  

• A symptom of a greater problem: religious pluralism
  
  Christians have helped to open the door to this madness by advocating the atheistic doctrine of religious toleration. By the nature of the case, a nation's source of law is that nation's god. When Scripture is not the basis for civil law, then another religion/ethical system is. Thus, with civil toleration of non-Christian religions, so too has come civil imposition of non-Christian law systems (premised on non-Christian ethical, and thereby religious, foundations).
  
  This logically leads to, and even endorses, the redefinition of marriage by those of false religions (and here we include every worldview, secularism included). 
  
  
  What made the godly kings of Judah such great rulers? By enforcing biblical civil law, including the suppression of false religions. This pretty much ensures that marriage will not be redefined.
  
  And no, we are not talking about forcing others to be Christians (like how the liberals would force everyone to be pro-sodomite) — we are talking about the suppression of the outward practice and promotion of false religions. Liberals, by contrast, are obviously working for the the opposite — the suppression of Christianity.
  
  Christians, then, cannot have it both ways. They cannot support toleration of non-Christian ethical systems on the one hand, and on the other oppose same-sex "marriage."
  
  

• God's wrath and the Supreme Court justices
  
  The 5 Supreme Court justices supporting same-sex "marriage" have been warned - I wouldn't want to be in their shoes:

  
  

  "Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear,and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him." (Psalm 2:10-12)
  
  

  "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20)
  

  
  
  
• God's wrath for "private" acts
  
  
  The fact that God unleashes His wrath upon nations for their sins refutes the idea that one can privately engage in victimless acts.  A nation that condones private sins risks public execution — with God as the executioner.  This was the case with the Canaanites. God destroyed them for such "private acts" as incest, adultery, profaning God’s name, sodomy, bestiality, and child sacrifice (an equivalent to abortion) (Lev. 18:6-23). Civil libertarianism is a sure path to destruction; same-sex acts affect more than just those involved.
  
  

• Could the backlash work in the church's favor?
  
  Maybe this will mobilize Christians and godly rulers to take a stand. If there is no reversal to our current direction, then what comes next? Same-sex "marriage" is not just about marriage (as important as that is); it is also about persecuting Christians.
  
  
  
  
• The duty of rulers to resist
  
  All rulers who fear God more than man must interpose to stop this wickedness. They must obey God rather than man. As the King of kings with all authority in heaven and in earth, Jesus Christ must be given supreme allegiance.
  
  

• A critical component for preventing this nightmare
  
  Biblical civil law, which most Christians today reject, includes a very critical part of the solution that would not only ban same-sex "marriage," but drive same-sex practices underground: "If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them" (Leviticus 20:13).
  
  This punishment is not to be carried out by vigilantes, but by the state when such acts are proven in a court of law. (Note that the punishment is for an act, not for identifying oneself as "gay".) God's civil law is a terror to evildoers (Romans 13); it has a "hear and fear factor" (Deut. 13:6-11; 17:12, 13; 21:18-21). With the "hear and fear" factor now removed, the evil are emboldened, and ready to trample Christ's church underfoot. We are paying the price for rejecting biblical civil law. 
  
  

• Justice Kennedy's fallacy
  
  Justice Kennedy claims that “Excluding same-sex couples from marriage thus conflicts with a central premise of the right to marry.”
  
  However, Kennedy overlooks a central premise that marriage, as irrevocably defined by God, is between one man and one woman. Thus, one could just as fallaciously say that "Excluding injustice from a judge's decision conflicts with a central premise of the mandate for judges to judge justly"— which apparently is assumed in this very ruling.
  

• "Gay": hateful by definition
  
  God requires us to love Him and our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40). What does it mean to love God and to love our neighbor? It surely is not by inventing what we think the word "love" means. Rather, it is keeping God's commandments in their details: "On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets" (verse 40). 
  
  
  And so Jesus also states, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15). The book of James applies particular commandments to the requirement to love one's neighbor (James 2:8-12; see also Romans 13:8-10).
  
  
  Since love cannot be separated from God's law, and since God forbids same-sex acts, then committing same-sex acts with someone is to hate that person — and to promote such acts is to hate those whom it is promoted to. Most of all, same sex acts and their promotion is to hate God. 

• The Supreme Court decision reflects national apostasy
  
  Per Romans 1:21-32:

"For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

"Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

"For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

"And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them."

•  Gospel Reformation
  
  
  Our national apostasy reflects the need for national revival. If we want any lasting reformation, the Gospel must be proclaimed to all (but not just for political reformation, but for the salvation of souls). Perhaps God, by His sovereign grace, will cause many to believe the Gospel, resulting not only in transformed hearts, but in a transformed political system (since a good tree bears good fruit).
  
  Conversion is the surest preventative to homosexuality (and therefore the redefinition of marriage):
  
  "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

For a further critique of the cultural acceptance of same-sex acts, as well as a defense of Scripture's criminalization of such acts, see God is Just: A Defense of the Old Testament Civil Laws: Biblical Theocracy, Justice, and Slavery versus Humanistic Theocracy, "Justice," and Slavery.

photo credit:

"Crime Scene, Do Not Cross" Tape At The United States Supreme Court During The January 27, 2007 March On Washington (Washington, DC)  

© Jim Kuhn / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) (license). Retrieved June 26, 2015, from 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Crime_Scene,_Do_Not_Cross%22_Tape_At_The_United_States_Supreme_Court_During_The_January_27,_2007_March_On_Washington_(Washington,_DC).jpg