May 15, 2012
Quite the uproar last week re: our President’s confession of what we all already knew = he supports gay marriage. How in the world could one have watched all of his policies and appointments and practices over these last 3 + years and not have known that? The question is where do we as a nation go from here after the uproar dies down?
Those in liberal media outlets, liberal churches (most of which are very small and limited in influence), and in ultra liberal Hollywood tell us that our society is evolving, and soon we will all – or the overwhelming majority of Americans will get in line with full support of gay marriage. This in spite of the fact that every single time (32 x’s to be exact) a state has been able to vote on whether marriage should be defined as and limited to a relationship between a man and a woman – – they have voted yes. The last state to do so was North Carolina where as usual the pro traditional marriage side was outspent two to one (some states have been outspent by far more than that), but N.C. still had a resounding majority vote for traditional marriage (62 to 38 %). And lest you write this off as just another southern traditional bigoted state, Obama carried North Carolina in the presidential election 3 + years ago.
It is worth noting that every time one of these states voted, many months of endless main stream media manipulation took place. Those who would dare vote for traditional marriage were warned and threatened and cajoled and belittled and even beaten (at least in California). Hollywood heavyweights scorned in polished commercials the audacity of someone in the 21st century who would dare vote against “progress” and “freedom” and “fairness” and “equality” and “non discrimination”. Many in these states probably gave more thought to the issues with this particular vote than perhaps any other they had ever wrestled with. So highly charged accusations that we who voted for marriage to not be redefined and neutered are all homophobic, gay hating, uneducated, backwards, fearful folk just doesn’t hold water.
Can you find a so called “Christian” pastor or priest here and there that have joined the anti traditional marriage cause? Yes you can. But in most cases they lead small congregations with very little influence beyond that congregation. And even in some of those congregations, long time members are just waiting for them to move on; and they (the members) remain – not because they share their pastor’s viewpoint, but rather because this has been their home church for decades, and they do not want to leave it. As one who helps lead the pastors fellowship in our region (3 cities) and has been very involved with the pastors on the Central Coast (15 cities?) for my 18+ years here, I happen to know that what is true in my city is true in all of these cities = the great majority of congregations are not wavering on this issue, and are convinced that heterosexual marriage is God’s clear design for family and society from the very beginning, and is worth being persecuted for.
So back to my question: Where do we go from here? Well I have several suggestions: First of all, we must all learn to ignore those in mainstream media who try to intimidate and defeat us by their ongoing proclamations that this “change” is inevitable. If California can vote for traditional marriage twice in the last decade with the media, Hollywood and the California Teachers Association (among other loud voices) vehemently against us, then it is certainly not inevitable. Truth has a way of weathering storms.
Second, we must learn to ignore polls. In most of these 32 states, the pre-election polls led us to believe the anti traditional marriage folk were going to win or were at least tied with the pro-traditional marriage folk. Over the years I have seen this with other elections as well. Polls in general cannot be trusted. Especially the way mainstream media have learned to manipulate them.
Third, we men must get back to loving our wives and being more involved in the lives of our children so that our marriages are walking examples of why heterosexual marriage is foundational and good for society; and so that our children can learn to live by principle and not by polls.