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The Weblog at The View from the Core - Fri. 06/27/03 03:38:37 PM
   
   

SCOTUS and Christianity

Two worthy blogs on yesterday's SCOTUS decision striking down the Texas anti-sodomy law, from a Christian perspective.

First, from Mark Shea at Catholic and Enjoying It!

.... American Christians are rapidly being put in the position of saying to their countrymen, "You have now enshrined in law as a 'constitutional right' two sins which, in the biblical tradition, cry out to heaven. How long do you think you can continue to speak of 'America: the Light and the Glory' and vaunt our obvious 'right' to defeat the scourge that comes against us?"
I think it would behoove Americans to stop speaking ever more loudly of our superiority and start getting on our knees before God. Israel was, in a certain sense, superior to the entire pagan world. She possessed gifts that no other nation was granted. In betraying those gifts, she became more subject to judgment since those to whom much is given, much will be required.
We have been given much. If we piss it away, we'll be more blameworthy in the eyes of God than the most ignorant Bronze Age Fanatic.

Second, from Bryan Preston at Junkyard Blog:

.... Most churches today frown on the homosexual lifestyle. Where the Bible addresses homosexuality, it condemns it, and most churches rightly take their moral cues from the Bible. It is Christianity's foundational text. This week's ruling, because it is so sweeping, will open the door to lawsuits aimed at ending churches' "discrimination" against practicing homosexuals. Here's the form I expect it to take. A young man will graduate from a mainstream, well-respected seminary, probably in a conservative, evangelical denomination. He will be gay, but in the closet throughout his time in seminary. Upon graduation, he will apply for a job in a church, probably not as pastor (young seminarians tend to hit the lower ranks first) but as minister of music or youth pastor, or maybe associate pastor in a mid-sized or larger church. He will be qualified in every way -- except that he will have also come out of the closet during the interview process. The church will not hire him, and he will sue it for discriminating against him. He'll lose, but that won't matter. He will have sent the church's denomination a message, and cost the local church a fortune (the ACLU or Human Rights Campaign will pick up his tab). The local church, if it is small enough, may close down as the case drags on and saps its funds. The denomination's hierarchy will look at its bylaws at the behest of its lawyers to see if there are ways to prevent future liability. More liberal denominations will change their bylaws and allow practicing homosexuals to enter its ministry force. In so doing they'll remove their legal liability, but at the expense of doctrine. More evangelical churches -- those most hated by the gay rights lobbies -- will not change, and will be sued repeatedly. It will take just one victory and the gay rights movement will have conquered the Christian church in America....

P.S. Also, from Fr. Rob Johansen at Thrown Back:

.... By locating it's argument in the ever-expanding "penumbra" of the so-called "right" to privacy, the Supreme Court has decreed that henceforth, no community has any right to define for itself any standards of what it considers moral conduct. It has decreed that no community has a right to express moral censure on any behavior in any meaningful way.
The logic of this decision, if its trajectory is unchecked, will lead inevitably to state recognition of homosexual marriage. After all, it is strictly a matter between "consenting adults" and the state cannot discourage the arrangements made between people. The logic of this decision opens the way to the decriminalization of child sex-abuse: all you have to do is redefine "consent" (there are people working on that already) and then the way is open. Any legislative attempt to criminalize or discourage any behavior because it is simply wrong cannot stand under this new judicial reasoning: unless the moral judgment so enshrined in law is one our Robed Masters happen to agree with.
This will also open the way for gay activists to force Churches or other religious organizations to recognize homosexual unions and/or be compelled to hire homosexuals. I foresee in the not-too-distant future a challenge to the "moral turpitude" clauses contained in many teacher's contracts: Your parish's school could be forced to hire an openly gay teacher because, under the logic of Lawrence (yesterday's SCOTUS decision) together with other anti-discrimination laws, the "right to privacy" will preclude any organization from making "discriminatory" judgments on the basis of individuals private "lifestyle choices." ....

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 06/27/03 03:38:37 PM
Categorized as Social/Cultural.

   

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