I suppose Monday, April 29, 2013 will go down in history as a great day for America. Jason Collins (right in above picture) came out of the closet to announce to the world that he is a homosexual. He has been depicted as a “hero,” a “trailblazer,” and as “our Jackie Robinson”. Kobe Bryant was one of the first to congratulate Jason for his courage. Michelle Obama was quick to announce her support for Jason: ”So proud of you, Jason Collins! This is a huge step forward for our country. We’ve got your back!”
Bill Clinton couldn’t help but bloviate on the controversial topic, declaring that Collins’ announcement was “an important moment for professional sports and in the history of the LGBT community.” In case you may have forgotten, this is the same president who signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 while he carried on a secret affair with Monica Lewinsky. It was also Bill Clinton who signed the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, which stated that an openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual service member would of necessity be discharged from the military.
Chelsea Clinton, a former classmate of Collins at Stanford University, tweeted her support: ”I am very proud of my friend Jason Collins for having the strength & courage to be the first openly gay player in the NBA”. Chelsea claims credit for helping her father finally ‘evolve to the truth’ about homosexuality.
Unfortunately, Bill Clinton represents the culture of America. What was once condemned as wrong is now not only tolerated; it is enthusiastically accepted. It is now ‘cool’ to be gay. Were we wrong then and now we are right, or were we right then and now we are wrong? Human nature does not evolve toward the truth; rather, it leans toward sin. The Apostle Paul described his natural struggle with sin in his letter to the Romans. (Romans 7:23-25)
Not to be outdone by the Clintons, Barack Obama weighed in on the matter through White House Spokesman Jay Carney: ” We view that (Collins announcement) as another example of the progress that has been made and the evolution that has been taking place in this country and commend him for his courage and support him.” I am reminded of another call Obama made to Sandra Fluke to support her as she clamored for free contraceptives. I also remember a call to the Occupy group that camped out on Wall Street to encourage their rebellion. I remember a “beer summit” in support of Harvard Professor Henry Gates, who made unfounded accusations of racism against a Cambridge police officer.
Please wait while I pause….still pausing….thinking….trying to remember. I can’t remember any calls to injured American servicemen. I do remember a vague empty promise to get to the bottom of the Benghazi incident. It certainly seems that we have a president who is more than eager to lend his support to divisive issues but feels little motivation to create patriotism and loyalty to the country he serves.
I know I’m going to get slam-dunked for what I am about to write. It always happens when I express my opinion on this issue. I don’t know Jason Collins personally. It seems I would like him if I did know him. Are those supporters of Jason Collins really expressing love for a friend? Among those of us in Christian circles, we like to refer to it as ‘tough love’. It is the determination to defend truth, even in situations where it generates pain. Someone needs to tell Jason Collins the truth about homosexuality, not because they hate him but because they love him.
While nearly everyone will commend Collins for his courage to declare himself a homosexual, few will commend ESPN’s Chris Broussard for having the courage to tell the truth. Who is a real friend of Jason Collins? Is it Bill or Chelsea Clinton? Is it Barack or Michelle Obama? They are jumping on the bandwagon for political exposure. They are like parasites leaching off of every individual who has found their way into the national spotlight. Jason, your real friend is Chris Broussard.
The sports analyst expressed his opinion of ESPN’s “Outside the Lines”: “I’m a Christian. I don’t agree with homosexuality,” Broussard said. “I think it’s a sin, as I think all sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman is. If you’re openly living in unrepentant sin … that’s walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ,” he added.
(Please wait while I applaud….clapping hands…feeling proud…stilling applauding the courage of Chris Broussard.)
Earl Fowlkes is the president and CEO of the Center for Black Equity, a group that supports black individuals who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered. He made a ludicrous attempt to compare Jason Collins with Jackie Robinson: ”…he will be a little, miniature Jackie Robinson.” The attempt of the homosexuals to hijack the Civil Rights Movement is outrageous. Martin Luther King fought for rights that were being denied to those of a specific skin color. Our race is predetermined before birth.
There is no scientific evidence that people are born gay. Sexual orientation is not written in our DNA; it is more about how we define ourselves. Ironically, Jason Collins has a twin brother who revealed that he was shocked when he learned his brother was gay. With no evidence to support a genetic cause, we have descended to the level of granting rights for certain behaviors. As you can only imagine, opening this Pandora’s Box will only lead to more confusion and controversy.
Chris Broussard is the lone voice crying in the wilderness. Homosexual behavior is a sin that distresses the heart of a holy God. If a holy God is to remain holy, he must one day administer justice for the sin of homosexuality. Broussard added more truth to the issue. He declared that all sex outside of marriage is sinful in the eyes of God. As Christians, we love Jason Collins. We love him enough to tell him the truth. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) Christians, to whom forgiveness has been granted through the Savior Jesus Christ, want to share this good news with whoever is willing to believe.
Photo credit: joshuak8 (Creative Commons)
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Why Liberals Hate Men Who Won’t Give Up Their Guns
I don’t know why many Americans on the political left are embracing a system that has persistently failed throughout history. They love to cradle this system in words that sound warm and fuzzy and very appealing: cooperation, collective effort, common ownership, and mutualism. It reminds one of a quote often attributed to Albert Einstein: “Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.” Why are they convinced that they (modern progressives) can finally make this failed system work? They are in a collective stupor because they have overdosed on a drug called arrogance.
Their movement is full of contradictions. They vehemently oppose the western tradition of supporting “rugged individualism” and wish for all to join the herd and allow the government to shepherd us toward ‘greener’ pastures. The independent ones who choose to paddle upstream rather than go with the flow are ostracized and hated. However, they will compromise their own collective principles if an individual or minority group can bring political benefit to the progressives.
Thomas Jefferson defended the rights of the individual in the Declaration of Independence. He diligently studied the great British political philosopher John Locke. He practically quoted Locke word for word in his original version of the Declaration when he wrote that all individuals have a right to “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of property.” This comes from John Locke’s writings on natural law. Perhaps Jefferson was wishing to paint with a broader stroke when he chose to edit Locke’s statement when he penned the words “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
The primary property John Locke was referring to was a man’s right to his own person. “Though the Earth…be common to all Men, yet every Man has a Property in his own Person. This no Body has any Right to but himself.” (First Treatise on Government) Some of Locke’s contemporary philosophers (Hume, Hobbes, and Rousseau) believed that property was created by the state and that therefore the state has sovereignty over the individual. Modern progressives embrace the idea of sovereign government over the natural rights of the individual.
The modern anti-individualism movement is clearly on display in the left’s hatred for guns. An individual in possession of a gun expresses an independence that drives leftists nearly insane. The gun owner is expressing his individual right to protect himself, not only from other individuals of ill intent but also from a power-mongering government. The liberal senses an attitude in the “bitter clinger” that declares himself to be owner and defender of his own self. The gun control freaks are frosted when an individual refuses to call on and trust a collective government to protect him.
Social progressives detest women who find fulfillment in being wives and mothers. Liberal woman expect all female sheep to join the cause and collectively and competitively wage war on male society. Feminists celebrate enthusiastically when a woman chooses death through abortion. They have a seething hatred for those who would choose individual families over collective femininism. Women devoted to families are considered weak and disgusting. The “right to life” is selective and to be determined collectively rather than individually. While shouting that all women have a right to their own bodies, the feminist movement actually promotes the entire opposite. Sheepish females who have chosen to submit to the alpha females of the feminist movement must sacrifice their individual rights for the sake of the common ‘good,’ and their unborn babies must sacrifice their lives for the collective goal of feminism.
Progressive hate Christians and Jews because Judeo-Christian beliefs run contrary to socialist beliefs. They try to transform the Savior Jesus into some sort of social justice hero. But Jesus was no hater of children; he love the little ones and warned those who would kill them or corrupt them that “it would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck” (Luke 17:2) than to face the punishment stored up for those who destroy their own children.
Stay-at-home mothers or families that home-school their children are hated by progressives. This kind of independent behavior runs contrary to their teaching that “it takes a village” to rear children.
John Locke’s understanding of property rights helps us understand the bitter hatred of the left for those on the right who promote families, life, gun ownership, and homeschooling. Those who are reared in families that believe in the right to protect individual property, especially the right to protect one’s own body, represent the future failure of socialism in America.
Jesus taught a balance between individualism and collectivism. Eliminating one in an attempt to promote the other will lead to chaotic failure. Jesus asked his disciples as individuals to “take up their cross and follow him.” Then he taught them “not to forsake coming together in community.” I believe we can be a part of a community without sacrificing our individual rights.
Christians must beware of devoting themselves too fully to a secular cause or idea. Oswald Chambers said that “A man that is devoted to God is not devoted to a cause or to any particular issue; he is devoted to God himself.” (My Utmost For His Highest, p.123)
Photo credit: Gregory Wild-Smith (Creative Commons)