16 March 2013

Weekend Extra: Close your Barn Door

by Frank Turk

In the last two weeks, it seems, suddenly everyone has something to say about Gay Marriage.  "Suddenly," as if it just came up.  Maybe it's a sign that the bandwagon has pulled up and the organ-grinders are trying to compete so that their monkeys don't start following a different cart.

Well, now what?  What should we do about it since everyone is ready to concede that the happiness of everyone is what we're really trying to achieve, and we can practically see paradise by the Google Analytics dashboard light?

Here's a list:

A warning about making your church into a Political Action Committee. (from 2008)

What we ought to mean when we say "marriage," and why the other side learned it wrong. (from 2008)

The primary problem we face when we engage the culture about all things LGBT. (from 2008)

Phil quotes Spurgeon on Divorce to help explain the problem of Gay Marriage. (from 2011)

This one just because of the captions when you roll over the photos (although the post is actually quite a pointed take at the fluffiness of liberal christian approaches to this question). (from 2010)

You didn't know it then, but you should know it now: they just want to be happy. (from 2012)

How to understand Mat 19 in the context of this cultural issue. (from 2012)

Why secular society needs the traditional definition of marriage. (from 2012)

What the church has done to marriage, and why we must undo it. (from 2012)

Did you know that marriage has "special meaning"? The U.S. District Court in California does. (from 2010)

DJP crushes the ball on the key theological issue. (from two weeks ago)

To prove he's not a tone-deaf neophyte, DJP then crushes the ball on why nekked theology is not enough. (from last week)

Don't let anyone fool you about what it means when the other side is arguing for their own "happiness". (from 2012)

How the other side tips its hand about what's really at stake, in a specific example from New York. (from 2012)

A look at the case for Gay Marriage [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]. (from 2012)

The laughable self-ignorance of the Media in its role on the decline of marriage and families in our nation. (from this week)

You should never handle this with a letter, but if you must, here's a suggestion. (from 2012)

And just for the sake of clean up, Open Letters to Derek Webb, John Mecham, and Brian Mclaren.

And seriously: we've been trying to close the barn door here since 2008, but now that all the animals are in the highway getting hit by delivery trucks some corners have discovered the problem.  Go ahead and show them how to close the barn door, but we better also be ready to run the chickens and the horses back in before we make a bunker out of something intended to be a bountiful harbor.








8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looking at some of the Pyromaniacs articles from 2008 got me depressed and thinking "Does everyone know how much support gay marriage has gained since 2008?". In 1996, only 25% of the American public supported same-sex marriage. That "conservative" Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage act. Now it looks like Romney was the last even president who would ever do that. I think we need to concede that we are losing in America...badly...and how our kids are going to cope in 20 years time from now. Because things are really going downhill fast.

Zachary Bartels said...

So, wait, where do you stand on gay marriage?!

Actually, I mean SECOND!!

Anonymous said...

I've been thinking about these type of things recently, and I guess what I've been wondering...what if the solution is for Christians to stop getting "married" by the state. It's a strange thing but completely unconsidered because it is in the air we breath practically, but doesn't 1 Cor. 6 establish that Christians should NOT allow civil family law courts and civil law to structure their lives?

If this is the case, why should Christians be involved in civil marriage? Do any of us believe that the state actually joins two people together? If not, let people be married in their churches but ultimately the decision to file the paperwork with the state would be a conscience issue.

David A. Carlson said...

great Meatloaf reference, which in and of itself is an example of the destruction of marriage (the song that is, not the reference). And, imho, one of the all time evocative print ads ever.

Stephen said...

Jack, I think in some states an authorized marriage officer (e.g., recognized pastor) cannot marry someone outside of an official state ceremony. That is, if your pastor is allowed to administrate official state weddings, he is not allowed to also administrate 'unofficial' weddings. At least, that's what I heard from a Virginian man whose son did not want to get a marriage license but convinced his pastor to go 'rogue.'

FX Turk said...

Jack:

The answer to the questions you are asking are

"yes."
"for the sake of the Gospel."
"no. The other side doesn't, either."

But the actions required after those answers are not the ones you are proposing.

I'm going to start to talk about that this wednesday. Stay tuned.

Anonymous said...

Frank!

I look forward to Wednesday my curiosity is peaked!

Truth Unites... and Divides said...

Anyone trust that the Supreme Court of the United States will uphold California's Proposition 8?