I took the title of this post from Os Guinness’s book, a great book. We are fighting a battle in Western Civilization over traditional marriage and family morals. The new orthodoxy is built on the idea of gender fluidity and the notion that all genders and lifestyles are to be embraced. Only violence and pedophilia are now rejected, though some argue even for the legitimacy of pedophilia. It is now asserted that promoting traditional morality, even the teaching of the Bible itself, is hate speech. But of course the teaching of the Bible is for the sake of people, is part of loving people, and is teaching, “This way to lasting fulfillment.”
Traditional Morality and Civil Law
Western nations traditionally enforced some aspects of morals through civil law. However, civil rights eventually prevailed, and the standard became no prosecution for behavior engaged in by consenting adults. Fast forward to today, and the left libertines now want to enforce their new orthodoxy on gender and sexual fluidity by prosecuting moral teaching as hate speech. It is a new orthodoxy and a new inquisition.
The Finnish Parliamentarian and Hate Speech
The catalyst for this post was the denial of a travel permit for a member of Parliament from Finland, married to a Lutheran Church leader, to travel to England. MP Päivi Räsänen was convicted of inciting hatred by Finland’s Supreme Court over a pamphlet on sexual ethics she authored in 2004, but she was unanimously acquitted on separate hate speech charges related to a Bible verse she posted on social media. This was enough for Britain to deny her an entry permit. Wow! I was reflecting on writing about this when my inbox included an article from the newsfeed Faith and Freedom, on Amnesty International. I quote here.
Amnesty International’s Anti-Christian Turn
“A prominent Christian advocacy leader is exposing what he calls blatant anti-Christian bias at one of the world’s most influential human rights organizations. Tim Dieppe, head of public policy at Christian Concern, has publicly challenged Amnesty International after the group singled out Christian organizations as ‘anti-rights’ while giving Islamic groups a complete pass on identical issues.
The controversy centers on Amnesty International’s recent report targeting organizations that hold biblical positions on the sanctity of life and biological sex. Multiple Christian groups found themselves labeled as threats to human rights simply for upholding traditional values that have been central to Western civilization for centuries.”
The Teaching of Yeshua
Yeshua himself was the source of Western marriage and family morals. The Torah required fidelity but allowed for polygamy. Yes, largely on the basis of economics and the population balance of male and female, most people practiced monogamy. Other cultures as well practiced sexual ethical controls. However, Yeshua pointed to Genesis 2:24 and taught the ideal of one man and one woman bonded together for life as the foundational ideal of God. I quote, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Then He added, “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder” (Matthew 19:6). The joy of bonded marital love is a fulfillment that is truly amazing, but it is only for those who make the commitment to attain it in total fidelity.
The Weaponization of Hate Speech against Christians (and Orthodox Jews?)
However, to teach that this is God’s standard and all other orientations are sin is now designated as hate speech. Religious liberty is not enshrined in the constitutions of many Western nations. Yes, they did have the practice of religious freedom as a legal tradition, but this is breaking down. Thanks to the Constitution of the United States, the Supreme Court has consistently weighed in on the side of liberty to teach and practice traditional morality and to teach that all other orientations are sin. I hope that this continues to be the case.
We are in a battle for civilization on this issue. Without the biblical foundations of marriage and family, we will see a darker, less civilized world, with damage to children carrying into their adult lives. So sad to see those who want to enforce their immorality on the public and to prosecute and persecute those who hold to traditional standards!
“O Lord, send a revival that biblical faith, the Gospel of the Kingdom, may again grow and expand in the Western world.”