national morality

      excerpt from chapter 6 -  Who Do We Think We Are ?

      These people start out their sexual lives by creeping around, sneaking around, trying not to be seen, trying not to be noticed—the things they do they do in the closet, so to speak.   They don’t want society to see what they are doing because they don’t want to be ostracized for doing what they do.  They are unfairly treated in courts of law all across America.  They are unfairly treated by their families and their friends who often are the only ones who really know how difficult life is for them.  They don’t think that they will ever be normal, that they will ever be able to hold their heads up when they go to family events. 

     They can’t stand the fact the others would not think well of them if they knew what they did, how they did what they did and how often they did the things they do.  All of the churches look down on them and treat them unfairly and call them names.  Why does it have to be this way in America?  Why can’t they just be treated like everyone else?  What difference does it make when they do their thing?  Who are they hurting?  Why can’t other people just mind their own business?  How long before society gives them the credit they deserve for who they are? 

     If they go to court over their actions, they can lose everything—their houses, their families, even their jobs.  If they are caught in the act, they can be beaten to a pulp by a jealous person or even killed.  Many times the courts across America even protect those who kill them, saying that it wasn’t their fault; they were driven to commit murder by their jealousy or their anger or righteous indignation or their fear of loss. 

     When they are arrested and booked for their offenses, their mug shots, which the police departments take all across America, often reveal the true feelings of those arrested.  If you look closely, you will see the resentment in their eyes, the attitude of defiance.  After all, they know that it is just a matter of time before such actions as those they have been arrested for will no longer be illegal in this country; they know that those who have complained and those who have arrested them are no better than they are; they know that they will be vindicated eventually. 

     How unjust, how wicked is America for treating them this way.  Why can’t they have their rights protected by law?  Why can’t they have their behavior protected by law?  What’s wrong with society?  Why can’t society understand that such people are no different than anyone else? 

     Who am I talking about?  I’m referring to the adulterers among us.  I’m referring to those among us who commit incest, pedophilia, bestiality and polygamy.  Why don’t we protect their right to do these things?  Why don’t we protect their right to do so with whomever they please?  It isn’t anyone’s business who they sleep with, who they do the things that they do with. 

     Who does society think that they are to tell them that what they do is wrong?  Who does the church think that it is to tell them that what they do is wrong?  It’s not their fault that their minds work that way.  They were born that way, they can’t help it.

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     Of course, the attitudes and insights expressed in the previous paragraphs are not acceptable, and rightly so.  The foregoing dialogue is not intended to represent my opinions.  Rather, it is intended to be thought-provoking to the community at large.  As the Scriptures teach, all men are born into sin.[i]  It is our nature to do those things which are wrong.  It is the tendency of our hearts to stray from God.  That is why the church must stand for righteousness and require and make the government do the same, for there isn’t any other power or force on earth to do it. 

     Yes, we are all born into sin, not just some of us; not just those of us who may be despised in our communities.  Where would society be today if we simply said, “Oh well, we were born into sin, might as well let everyone do whatever they like; after all, we can’t help it, can we?” 

     With this idea in mind, I again pose the question:  Who do we think we are?