Right becomes Wrong and Wrong becomes Right

The passage of New York's legislation was made possible by two Republican senators who had been undecided.

Sen. Stephen Saland pledged the deciding vote. He voted against a similar bill in 2009, helping kill the measure and dealing a blow to the national gay rights movement.

"While I understand that my vote will disappoint many, I also know my vote is a vote of conscience," Saland said in a statement to The Associated Press before the vote. "I am doing the right thing in voting to support marriage equality."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/06/24/gay-marriage-headed-to-vote-on-ny-senate-floor/#ixzz1QIVWHnJt

Regarding New York's Push for Same-sex Marriage

Rev. Jason McGuire, head of New York for Constitutional Freedoms, which represents evangelicals, has logged several late night hours in Albany monitoring the senators' discussions and debates. He has also been on what he's calling, "The May Day for Marriage Tour," traveling the state in a 32-foot RV speaking out against the marriage bill.

McGuire claims the legislation has a "fake religious liberty exemption," saying that New York already has thousands and thousands of civil rights laws targeting discrimination that will be used against churches and individuals who fail to perform or support same-sex marriage. McGuire claims the law would then "deny us our right to participate fully in our society and be faithful to our religious beliefs."

The Jewish Orthodox group Agudath Israel of America has also been lobbying lawmakers for months. This week it sent a letter to each one saying, "At the most basic level, our opposition to same-sex marriage is an expression of our religious tradition, as it is, no doubt, for millions of New Yorkers of all faiths."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/06/17/catholics-rally-against-same-sex-marriage-vote/#ixzz1PYXBhwgN

Interesting Video

I don't normally agree with Joel Osteen, but I thought he did an adequate job with a touchy subject.

The Bible NOT the final word on homosexuality: Presiding Bishop of ELCA

This is just one of many reasons why there is such a gulf between the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod (LCMS) of which I am a part.

from: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=801238

CHICAGO - The presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is suggesting that the Bible isn't the last word on homosexuality.

In a town hall meeting Sunday, Bishop Mark Hanson said, "the understanding we have of homosexuality today does not seem to be reflected at all in the context of the biblical writers." Therefore, he said, Lutherans should consider more modern views on sexual orientation.

More on Obama's gay pride White House event

from: http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=30803&ref=BPNews-RSSFeed0630

WASHINGTON (BP)--President Obama became the first chief executive to host a White House ceremony celebrating "gay pride" Monday, telling several hundred homosexual guests in the East Room that America still has what he called "old attitudes" about homosexuality but that they have "an ally and a champion" in the Oval Office...
...Conservative commentators were quick to note that the White House ceremony came only a month and a half after Obama chose not to host -- as was a custom under the Bush administration -- a White House event commemorating the National Day of Prayer...
..."There are unjust laws to overturn and unfair practices to stop," he said. "And though we've made progress, there are still fellow citizens, perhaps neighbors or even family members and loved ones, who still hold fast to worn arguments and old attitudes, who fail to see your families like their families, and who would deny you the rights that most Americans take for granted."Such language about "worn arguments" and "old attitudes" frustrated evangelicals, who say their views about the sinfulness of homosexuality are based on unchangeable biblical teachings. Bob Stith, the Southern Baptist national strategist for gender issues and representative of the denomination's Task Force on Ministry to Homosexuals (SBCTheWayOut.com), said evangelicals haven't "arrived at our conclusions on homosexuality lightly.""It isn't simply that we believe homosexuality is sin," Stith told Baptist Press. "We have wrestled with the texts, with the new apologetics of many activists and have come to a genuine, heartfelt belief that Scripture is clear on this."If "God says something is wrong," Stith said, then those who deviate from God's commands are missing "out on God's best" and are "in an adversarial relationship with God."

The Unspoken Truth

Today, my wife took my daughter to the doctor, so I had some time to myself at home while the baby was sleeping and the other two were playing in the snow. I had heard that defrocked pastor Ted Haggard had been on Oprah a couple of days back, so I decided to see if I could find the interview online. As you may remember, Ted Haggard was the senior pastor of a mega church from Colorado who was found to be living a double life. On the one hand, he had a great wife, kids, and church, and, on the other hand, he was secretly dealing with and falling to the temptation of homosexual relationships. I found the interview on youtube, and here are my thoughts.

First of all, I thought Ted did a very good job of speaking about the love of Christ who "came to seek and to save that which was lost". This includes all of us, no matter what our shortcomings may be. Secondly (and expectedly), Oprah was relentless in trying to get Ted to "just be who you are", in other words "give into your desires to be a homosexual man". To this I have a few thoughts.

#1: This is an incredibly illogical line of reasoning. The difference between men and animals is that we have the ability to reason and discern right from wrong. We are not slaves to our desires or instincts. No one would tell Ted to "give into your desires and be who you are" if his instincts were to kill somebody. Why? That would harm someone. As a Christian, I believe that God gave us His 10 Commandments so that we would not get hurt or hurt someone else. A homosexual lifestyle is destructive in so many ways (physically, emotionally, and spiritually) and God, in His love, doesn't want us to be destroyed.

#2: I think the greatest tragedy concerning the interview is that Ted shared that he had been sexually-molested as a second-grader by one of his dad's male friends, and Oprah didn't follow-up on that statement at all. She didn't seem to want to go there.

As a pastor, I see this somewhat often: young adults who were raped or molested as children struggling with their sexuality. The strange thing about boys who were molested by homosexual men is that many of them begin to believe THEY are homosexual rather than recognizing they were taken advantage of by men with unchecked homosexual desires. My point is this: from my experience, it is not unusual at all to have a young boy who is not confused with his sexuality come out of a homosexual molestation with different thoughts and emotions about his sexuality. So, for Oprah to say "just be who you are" is essentially saying, "go ahead and give in to this self-destructive lifestyle; you don't have any choice and you have to because long ago you were taken advantage of by a man of little character, responsibility, or moral clarity."