Progressive movement

There is a culture war going on in the world, and progressives (their word) have already won.

Last week in Ottawa, Ontario (that's in Canada for those keeping score at home), the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Biblical speech opposing homosexual behavior, including in written form, is essentially a hate crime.

The Court upheld the conviction of activist William Whatcott, who found himself in hot water after distributing flyers regarding the Bible’s prohibitions against homosexuality throughout the Saskatoon and Regina neighborhoods in 2001 and 2002. “The Bible is clear that homosexuality is an abomination,” one flyer that was found to be in violation stated, citing 1 Corinthians 6:9. “Scripture records that Sodom and Gomorrah was given over completely to homosexual perversion and as a result destroyed by God’s wrath.”  Another flyer, entitled Keep Homosexuality Out of Saskatoon’s Public Schools, was written in response to the recommendation of the Saskatoon School Board that homosexuality be included in school curriculum. The Supreme Court declared the document to be unlawful because it called the homosexual acts that would be taught to children “filthy,” and contended that children are more interested in playing Ken and Barbie than “learning how wonderful it is for two men to sodomize each other.” The justices ruled that because the use of the word “sodomy” only referred to “two men” and not also the sex acts of heterosexuals, it was a direct target against a specific group of people.

In Idaho (which is not in Canada for those keeping score at home),  Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a federal lawsuit and a motion for a temporary restraining order late last week to stop officials in Coeur d’Alene (I'm not sure at all whether that is in Canada but it should be, probably) from forcing two ordained Christian ministers to perform wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples.

City officials told Donald Knapp that he and his wife Evelyn, both ordained ministers who run Hitching Post Wedding Chapel, are required to perform such ceremonies or face months in jail and/or thousands of dollars in fines. The city claims its “non-discrimination” ordinance requires the Knapps to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies now that the courts have overridden Idaho’s voter-approved constitutional amendment that affirmed marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

“The government should not force ordained ministers to act contrary to their faith under threat of jail time and criminal fines,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “Many have denied that pastors would ever be forced to perform ceremonies that are completely at odds with their faith, but that’s what is happening here – and it’s happened this quickly. The city is on seriously flawed legal ground, and our lawsuit intends to ensure that this couple’s freedom to adhere to their own faith as pastors is protected just as the First Amendment intended.”

And finally, in Houston, Texas (which most certainly is in a country all its own) some pastors are being forced to hand their sermons over to the government. Houston asked five local conservative pastors to give 'em up as part of a controversial new city ordinance that bans discrimination against LGBT people. When I first saw that, I thought it a satire.

But no. Houston's mayor, Annise Parker, has sought to collect any communication issued by those pastors that mention the petition against the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (whose initials are HERO, in one of the most interesting signs of the times).

Mayor Parker is a lesbian ho helped push through the law inn May. I believe the punishment of having their sermons read out loud might be enough, but I digress.

To recap, sermons are being collected if they mention LGBT persons (with what punishment to come not being so named, in Canada talking negatively against LGBT persons can be ruled hate speech, and ministers in Idaho are being forced to marry persons of the same sex.

Seriously, this all is getting out of hand. What constitutes rights is becoming very narrowly defined, and the verdict is in ... one must believe and act a certain way in terms of same-sex marriage or else.

Did I cover it all?

I've believed for some time that the federal government will one day force pastors to marry persons of the same sex whether they believe that to be right or not. I didn't realize it would happen so quickly.

So, pastors who do not believe it is the correct thing to do as far as marrying persons of the same sex will have to do so or be jailed. Clearly this is the way of the culture.

Does this not negate pre-marital counciling? Does his not negate the pastor's rights? Just asking.

In the end, marriage equality (a term I had never heard till last week) has become the over ridding issue of the day, somehow. I maintain my position that "marriages" conducted in front of a justice of the peace should be able to include persons of the same gender. I maintain that "marriages" that include both genders are perfectly acceptable. But I will not do one in the sanctuary of our church because I do not believe that to be acceptable in the eyes of God.

Though one day I might be told to do so or else.

The "or else" is getting serious.