Gems in the Web 4/5/13
Gay marriage is the topic of conversation these days. Here are some terrific articles to help you think and talk about it intelligently.
I find it frustrating when I read or hear columnists, pundits, or journalists dismiss Christians as inconsistent because “they pick and choose which of the rules in the Bible to obey.” What I hear most often is “Christians ignore lots of Old Testament texts—about not eating raw meat or pork or shellfish, not executing people for breaking the Sabbath, not wearing garments woven with two kinds of material and so on. Then they condemn homosexuality. Aren’t you just picking and choosing what they want to believe from the Bible?”
Read the rest of this excellent article by Tim Keller HERE.
By and large, people don’t support gay marriage because they’ve done a lot of reading and soul searching, just like people didn’t oppose it on high flying intellectual grounds either. For a long time, homosexuality seemed weird or gross. Now it seems normal. More than that, it fits in perfectly with the dominant themes and narratives shared in our culture. Gay marriage is the logical conclusion to a long argument, which means convincing people it’s a bad idea requires overturning some of our most cherished values and most powerful ideologies.
Find out Why the Arguments for Gay Marriage are Persuasive. (Written by Kevin DeYoung)
Most people are not aware of how gay marriage will undermine the traditional family because it does so in ways that are subtle and ubiquitous. However, once gay marriage is introduced into a nation, it undermines the integrity of every family and every marriage in the nation. It does this by rearranging the family’s relationship to the state. The state which legalizes gay marriage is a state that has assumed the god-like power to declare which collections of individuals constitute a ‘family.’ But by this assumption government declares that both marriage and family are little more than legal constructs at best, and gifts from the state at worst. In the former case, marriage and family lose their objective fixity; in the latter case, we become the wards of the state.
This was the summary paragraph from the article Five Gay Marriage Myths by Robin Phillips.
And now, let’s leave the gay conversation behind and turn to women and war. (Are we having fun yet?)
We need to make this message plain: Feminism is chauvinism. It shares the belief that traditional “women’s roles” are undesirable and second best. As such, it seeks to make women as much like men as possible. The irony in all of this is that it is almost always a step down. Another great Chesterton quote comes to mind, “What is called the economic independence of women is the same as what is called the economic wage-slavery of men.” Whereas a woman could be a philosopher-king at home, mastering domestic arts and having dominion over souls, she is instead encouraged to go out and get a 9-to-5, working in a mostly impersonal and exploitative workplace. At some points in history, she was forced to make this sacrifice out of necessity. Now, however, she has been taught that it is a virtuous decision for her own empowerment. It’s rather strange how easy it has been to convince women that genderification is gentrification.
Read the rest of Women at War by Steven Wedgeworth.
And speaking of women and revolution and all that:
One year ago, Kelly Makino, 33, quit her job running a program for at-risk children to stay home full time, because, she says, women are better at that job than men.
The mother-of-two and self-described ‘flaming liberal’ and feminist, told New York magazine: ‘The feminist revolution started in the workplace, and now it’s happening at home.’
Read “How a new wave of feminists are giving up their careers to stay at home because they WANT to.”
So there you have it. I think this means, according to these Wemmicks, that if you are a homemaker, you have left your dork-brain status behind—and are now cutting edge. Cool.
Have a lovely week end!
Tags: Gems in the Web
I read the first article you posted a link to, by Tim Keller. I just wanted to share what my family and I believe. We actually do strive to keep what Old Testament laws we are able to in this day and age. We don’t eat pork, we rest on Sabbath (Saturday), we celebrate Passover, and the other six feasts in the Bible. Unlike the author of the article, we believe that the Bible is completely consistent in it’s requirements for God’s people throughout. If Jesus truly “ignored” the Old Testament laws like Mr. Keller suggests, then He couldn’t be our Savior. It says that He was without sin, a perfect sacrifice. I suggest looking into the places that people assume He broke the law that John 1:1 says He is the very embodiment of. You will see that He broke the commands that the Jewish people had added, or as in the cases cited in the article, He made everything that He touched clean. The dead were made alive, and the lepers were cleansed, He couldn’t have been made unclean by them.
Malachi 3:6 tells us that God does not change, and Jesus Himself said He only spoke His Father’s words, and did what He had been shown by Him. 1 John 2:6 tells us to walk as Jesus walked, and since He walked in the law of His Father, I strive to do the same. Not so I can be saved, salvation comes by grace alone, but so I can be a pleasing child. Your child doesn’t obey you in order to become your son, that has been done for him, but he obeys to please you. I try to do the same for my Heavenly Father, to whom I owe everything.
All that being said, I do believe that the rise in homosexuality and it’s acceptance by Christians and non-Christians alike does partially stem from a deserting of the Old Testament law. Many of the so called “ceremonial” laws in the Old Testament are followed by the words “a lasting ordinance” or “to be observed throughout your generations”, such as in Exodus 12:14. If we are now Israel, like Paul says in Romans, then these still apply to us. If we say we believe every word of the Bible to be inspired by God, and yet disregard verses like these, I believe we are being inconsistent and presenting a pick an choose mentality to our children and the world.
I’m not trying to be argumentative, just presenting a different point of view.
A sister in Christ,
Britney
- itsinthere.org
I’m with you on everything but the ceremonial laws, which were pointing TO the coming Messiah, but were no longer necessary after the Messiah came. Now we have a Messiah to celebrate. He came. It is finished. Halleluiah! Study Romans and Hebrews for more on this, and then rejoice in your Messiah!
Thank you Natalie for these excellent reads this week. You are an excellent gem finder
And YOU, my dear, are a GEM!
Perfect! The first article by Tim Keller was so timely. The “new” argument that almost all homosexuals regurgitate as their own original argument now is precisely what Mr. Keller was talking about. Every time a gay person defends homosexuality, they go to that exact argument…”I’m no theologian, but I look around and see how Christians obey some old testament laws and ignore others. For example…” I knew what I believed, but somehow couldn’t organize it into a persuasive explanation- until now. Thanks for the gems!!!
Thank you for your thoughts and perspective on gay marriage. It’s hard to explain a Christian point of view at times without sounding prejudiced and judgmental. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), I have a testimony that marriage is ordained by God to be between a husband and wife, legally wedded, and that any sexual relations outside of that marriage, or before that marriage is sinful and against Heavenly Father’s plan for His children. It’s great to read other’s perspectives and thoughts on the topic, so thank you. And thank goodness our Messiah came and changed the way we live and changed the way we go about rituals (referring to the comment about people saying Christians “pick and choose” from the OT). Christ lives, and His mission fulfilled!