Chaplain's argument contrary to Catholic Church

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Chaplain's argument contrary to Catholic Church

Chad Groening - OneNewsNow

An attorney who works with several evangelical dominations' chaplain-endorsing agencies is concerned about a high-ranking Army chaplain's recent comments on the military's implementation of a new policy.

According to The Sierra Vista Herald, Brigadier Gen. Donald Rutherford, a Roman Catholic priest who serves as deputy of chief for the U.S. Army's chaplains, recently visited Fort Huachuca, Arizona, and told post-religious leaders that the end of the ban on homosexuals serving in the military must be respected as the new law. He also said Army chaplains will have a major part in preparing the service to accept that lifestyle. But Art Schulcz, an attorney for the International Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers (ICECE), points out that Rutherford's words do not match the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church. "It's inconsistent with the position paper that was put out by the military archdiocese, Archbishop Broglio, who's made it very clear that homosexuality is contrary to the teachings of scripture; it's contrary to the position of the Catholic Church," Schulcz notes. "And that's true because their own catechism, for instance, presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity."

So the attorney concludes that forcing service members to accept the homosexual lifestyle in the military is contrary to the doctrine of the church Rutherford is supposed to represent.

Other Stories in Culture 6-year-old's psych ward visit sparks outrage Planned Parenthood sets new record Mourning the unborn Media favoring 'self-interested creatures' ABA's response to anti-sharia bills Would-be wrestling champ chose beliefs over winning In the business of infidelity Teens tired of 'hook-up' lifestyle Labor disputes infecting TSA, multiple states Catholic school's 'unconscionable' celebration GOP hoping to end compulsory unionism Obama admin. will no longer defend marriage law 'Governator' back to the big screen In the dark ... or in the know about ObamaCare? 'Deniers' are to blame Muslim hearings attract protests Religious exemptions for vaccinations Message to believers: Get your snap on! What kind of example is that for students? NASCAR winner supports ministry for orphans Read more at www.onenewsnow.com

 

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ICE Supervisory Intelligence Research Specialist Indicted for Misuse of Diplomatic Passport

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ICE Supervisory Intelligence Research Specialist Indicted for Misuse of Diplomatic Passport

United States Attorney John E. Murphy announced that 63-year-old Ahmed Adil Abdallat, a supervisory intelligence research specialist for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in El Paso, Texas, faces federal charges in connection with a scheme to steal government travel funds and for misuse of a diplomatic passport.

A nine-count indictment, returned on February 23, 2011 by a federal grand jury in El Paso, charges Abdallat with eight counts of misuse of a diplomatic passport and one count of conversion of public money. Upon conviction, the defendant faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a maximum $250,000 fine per count.

In March 2007, Abdallat was issued a diplomatic passport in order to perform various temporary duties in U.S. Embassies in several foreign countries. The indictment alleges that on eight different occasions since October 2007, Abdallat used his official diplomatic passport for the personal purpose of travel to and from Ahman, Jordan. At least four of these occasions were after Abdallat was permanently assigned to duty in El Paso and no longer had any official embassy, mission, or related activities which required overseas travel on a diplomatic passport. The indictment further alleges that from February 15, 2009 through September 10, 2010, Abdallat traveled from El Paso to Washington, D.C. and received approximately $123,000 in travel fund reimbursements. A review of the travel voucher documents submitted by Abdallat for reimbursement revealed that they contained multiple fictitious charges for lodging, vehicle rental, and parking.

Abdallat remains in federal custody after being arrested on February 24, 2011. A detention hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 2:30 p.m. before United States Magistrate Judge David C. Guaderrama.

This investigation was conducted by a multi-agency task force including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Professional Responsibility, and the Diplomatic Security Service. Assistant United States Attorney Greg McDonald is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

An indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Read more at elpaso.fbi.gov

 

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Boston Police Officer Pleads Guilty in Injury Scam

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Boston Police Officer Pleads Guilty in Injury Scam

BOSTON—A Boston police officer was convicted today in federal court of a fraud scheme involving his work-related disability claim.

ELIEZER GONZALEZ, 49, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to 34 counts of mail fraud. He will be sentenced on June 3, 2011. GONZALEZ faces up to 20 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine on each count of mail fraud.

Had the case proceeded to trial, the government's evidence would have proven that the City of Boston and a private supplemental insurer were defrauded by GONZALEZ, who went out on injured leave after allegedly suffering on-the-job injuries in September 2007. He immediately began receiving tax-free injured pay and also filed for accidental disability retirement.

GONZALEZ greatly exaggerated and falsified both his injuries and ongoing physical issues and fraudulently collected both injured leave pay from the City of Boston totaling approximately $173,000 as well as supplemental insurance benefits totaling $3,600. He was surveilled and videotaped feigning injuries on or near the same days that he was recorded acting injury-free, including walking with a cane to his doctor's appointments and then walking unassisted while running errands. During the time that GONZALEZ was collecting injured pay, he frequented the L Street Bath House, went salsa dancing, and traveled abroad without difficulty.

U.S. Attorney Ortiz; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugenia M. Carris and Diane C. Freniere of the U.S. Attorney's Public Corruption Unit. Read more at boston.fbi.gov

 

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Ex-NYPD Officer Receives Over 21 Years at Sentencing for Transporting Three Minors Across State Lines for Sex

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Ex-NYPD Officer Receives Over 21 Years at Bedside Sentencing for Transporting Three Minors Across State Lines for Purposes of Illegal Sex

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that United States District Judge KENNETH M. KARAS sentenced TRENT YOUNG, 42, a former New York City police officer, to 262 months’ imprisonment for his transportation of three different minors across state lines for purposes of engaging in illegal sexual activity. The sentencing took place at the prison ward of the Westchester Medical Center, where YOUNG is being treated for a terminal illness.

According to the charges in the indictment to which YOUNG pled guilty and statements made in court at the guilty plea proceeding on July 2009 and at the sentencing today:

YOUNG operated a martial arts studio out of his home in Middletown, New York. In or about the Spring of 2006, YOUNG opened "Iron Tiger Martial Arts" ("Iron Tiger"), a martial arts studio in West Milford, New Jersey. On an occasion in or about October or November 2006, Young brought a 14-year-old minor from Middletown to Iron Tiger and engaged in sexual intercourse with her. In or about November or December 2006, Young brought a second minor, who was then 16 years old, to Iron Tiger and engaged in sexual intercourse with her as well.

Prior to these indictments, in or about April 2003, YOUNG drove another 14-year-old minor from her home in Brooklyn, New York, to YOUNG's home in Middletown, New York, traveling through New Jersey, and engaged in sexual intercourse with her.

In pleading guilty, YOUNG admitted that he transported each of the three minors across state lines for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity and that, after transporting the minors across state lines, he engaged in sexual intercourse with each of them. He also admitted that he exercised supervisory control over each of the three minors.

Following his arrest in January 2008, YOUNG was detained without bail.

In imposing the 262-month sentence on YOUNG, Judge KARAS underscored that the "extraordinarily high" sentence was appropriate in light of what YOUNG did to the girls he chose as his victims. According to KARAS, the "magnitude of the conduct here outweighs the medical issues" faced by YOUNG.

Mr. BHARARA praised the efforts and assistance of the FBI, the Middletown Police Department, the Orange County District Attorney's Office, the Rockland County Sheriff's Department, the West Milford, New Jersey, Police Department, and the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office.

The prosecution is being handled by the Office's White Plains Division. Assistant United States Attorney MARCIA S. COHEN is in charge of the prosecution. Read more at www.fbi.gov

 

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FBI Launches Media Blitz in Hopes of Nabbing Serial Rapist

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FBI Launches Media Blitz in Hopes of Nabbing Serial Rapist

FoxNews.com

Above are three sketches of the serial rapist who authorities say attacked at least 12 times from 1997 to 2009 (FBI).

Authorities in seven states are launching a media blitz to capture the "East Coast Rapist," who has attacked at least 12 women and evaded police for nearly 14 years.

The FBI, aided by police departments in seven states, announced a digital billboard campaign Monday in the hopes of nabbing a man who has assaulted women in states from Virginia to Connecticut, and as far back as 1997.

Black and white sketches of the rapist's face are set to appear on billboards in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island, the FBI said. The images can also be seen on Facebook and Twitter, as well as a newly launched website that includes maps and other details of the attacks.

Investigators hope the new media attention will catch the rapist before he strikes again.

"These billboards give each local police department, and the FBI, an added edge to identifying, locating and apprehending the subject," said Ronald Hosko, Special Agent in Charge of the criminal division in the FBI’s Washington field office. "The public is the most important tool law enforcement has for solving crime."

The FBI said the suspect’s DNA links him to at least 12 attacks or attempted assaults.

Authorities say the man's first known attack was in February 1997 in Forestville, Md. From there, he targeted women in Virginia, Connecticut and Rhode Island. His most recent assault was in Woodbridge, Va., on Oct. 31, 2009. The man allegedly attacked three teenage girls at gunpoint in a wooded ravine as the children headed home after a night of trick-or-treating. The man, who barely escaped police capture, allegedly raped the two 17-year-old girls while their 16-year-old friend managed to text message her mother for help.

The FBI said the suspect typically approaches women while on foot, threatening his victims with a knife or gun and asking them for money. But the man – sometimes wearing a black mask or hooded sweatshirt – doesn’t steal anything after the attack is over, authorities said. The FBI said the man has targeted black, white and Hispanic females.

The suspect is described as a black male, who may have a chipped or missing tooth. Descriptions of the man's height range from 5-foot-7 to 6-feet tall. In some instances, the man was reported to be wearing leather or latex gloves.

In 2009, a special task force was created to capture the suspect. Prince George’s County Police Department is offering up to $25,000 for information related to the investigation.

Authorities are urging anyone with information on the suspect or the attacks to contact the Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS. Read more at www.foxnews.com

 

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Upper Big Branch Security Chief Charged with Obstruction of Justice and False Statements

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Upper Big Branch Security Chief Charged with Obstruction of Justice and False Statements

CHARLESTON, WV—Hughie Elbert Stover, 60, of Clear Fork, Raleigh County, West Virginia, has been charged with two felonies in connection with the federal investigation of events at Massey Energy Company's Upper Big Branch Mine (UBB). Stover is chief of security at UBB and at least two other Massey operations. A federal grand jury indicted Stover last week on charges of making false statements to federal agents and obstructing a federal investigation. The indictment was unsealed today after Stover was arrested at his home.

According to the indictment unsealed today, Stover made materially false statements to an FBI special agent and a special investigator for the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). These federal agents were investigating allegations that security guards at UBB routinely notified mine personnel when MHSA inspectors arrived at the mine. Allegedly, Stover falsely denied that such a practice existed and falsely told the agents that he would have fired any security guard who provided such advance notice. According to the indictment, Stover himself instructed UBB security guards to notify mine personnel whenever MSHA inspectors arrived at the mine.

The indictment also alleges that Stover recently caused a person known to the grand jury to dispose of thousands of pages of security-related documents stored in a Massey building near the UBB mine, with the intent to impede the federal investigation.

"The conduct charged by the grand jury—obstruction of justice and false statements to federal investigators—threatens our effort to find out what happened at Upper Big Branch," said U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin. "With 29 coal miners lost and thousands more waiting for answers about what caused the disaster, this inquiry is simply too important to tolerate any attempt to hinder it. My office will continue to devote every available resource to this most critical of cases."

"The explosion at Upper Big Branch was a national tragedy, and this investigation is a priority for the Department of Justice," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division. "The indictment unsealed today shows our deep commitment to getting to the truth about what happened, including holding to account anyone who may impede this critical investigation."

The charges against Stover result from an investigation by the FBI and the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General, with assistance from MSHA special investigators detailed to the criminal probe.

Stover is scheduled to be arraigned on March 15, at 11 a.m., in Beckley, W. Va. Read more at pittsburgh.fbi.gov

 

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Serial Rapist Investigation Expands FBI and Local Law Enforcement Seek Public’s Assistance

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Serial Rapist Investigation Expands to Digital Billboards on the East Coast FBI and Local Law Enforcement Seek Public’s Assistance

Today, the FBI, with the Fairfax County, Prince William County, Prince George's County, Leesburg, New Haven, and Cranston Police Departments, launched a digital billboard campaign to assist in a serial rape investigation involving 12 sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults between 1997 and 2009 by the same offender. Each of these assaults is linked by DNA.

Digital billboards featuring composite sketches of the offender are now running in Connecticut, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Virginia, where the attacks and attempts have occurred, as well as in neighboring states—New Jersey, New York, and Delaware. Since the start of the FBI's digital billboard partnership, at least 39 cases have been solved as a direct result from tips from the public. "These billboards give each local police department and the FBI an added edge to identifying, locating, and apprehending the subject," said Ronald Hosko, Special Agent in Charge of the Criminal Division, FBI, Washington Field Office. "The public is the most important tool law enforcement has for solving crime."

Fairfax County Police Department has launched a dedicated website, www.EastCoastRapist.com, which provides composite sketches and additional description of the offender. "We have the DNA linking the offender, but we need someone to recognize and identify him," said John Kelly, detective with the Fairfax County Police Department.

Victims in the assaults have been black, white, and Hispanic females. The offender generally approaches the victims outdoors on foot and threatens them with a weapon; usually a knife or a handgun. In two of the earliest assaults, the offender approached the victims on a bike. The offender sometimes wears a black mask or hooded sweatshirt to conceal his face. After approaching the victim, the offender asks the victim for money, giving the victim the impression that she is being robbed, but does not take anything after the assault is over. The dates and locations of these assaults are:

Date	Location		Date	Location
Feb. 19, 1997	Forestville, MD		May 24, 2001	Leesburg, VA
Aug. 20, 1997	Suitland, MD		Aug. 16, 2001	Temple Hills, MD
July 3, 1998	Temple Hills, MD		Dec. 28, 2001	Alexandria, VA
Jun.19, 1999	Alexandria, VA		Nov. 28, 2006	Cranston, RI
Jan. 13, 2000	Alexandria, VA		Jan. 10, 2007	New Haven, CT
Nov. 20, 2000	Alexandria, VA		Oct. 31, 2009	Woodbridge, VA

Prince George's County Police Department is offering up to a $25,000 reward for information related to this investigation. Law enforcement agencies involved are asking that anyone who may have knowledge of this subject contact the Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS/ 8477. Read more at washingtondc.fbi.gov

 

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ABC,”View” Hags Host Jew-Hating 9/11 Truther Nut to Defend Charlie Sheen

By Debbie Schlussel

For once, the George Soros Nazi-funded Media Matters for America and I agree. Why did ABC host neo-Nazi, 9/11 truther, America-hating, anti-Jewish wack-job Alex Jones on its airwaves to defend Jew-hater Charlie Sheen, this morning? If this were 1940, you can bet the network would have given Father Coughlin a similar podium.

As should be apparent to anyone, of course Charlie Sheen is an anti-Semite.  And he’s a 9/11 truther nut.  And, as we know, that’s in addition to his bevy of porn stars and hookers, record of violence against women, and all-around drug-addled idiocy.  But, not to the moronic hags of ABC’s “The View.”  Today, they polluted the airwaves with Alex Jones–another well-known Jew-hater and 9/11 truther nut.  He was on to talk about how “my good friend, Charlie Sheen” is “not” an anti-Semite.   I’m surprised that Jones didn’t use his usual anti-Semitic rants about the “Zionists,” the “neocons,” “the bankers,” and Israel. He was probably told by “View” producers–who know very well who Jones is–not to. (And when you have to tell someone not to say those things on the air, maybe it’s a giant clue that you shouldn’t invite them on.)

But Jones, predictably used the opportunity to repeatedly plug his conspiracy theories about how the government “took down Building 7″ in the World Trade Center area, and the fiction that America “killed 1,000,000 people” in the Iraq War.  (Reality check:  that’s actually a low-balled number of Iraqis that Saddam Hussein and the Iranians murdered. But why confuse us with the facts?)  Also predictable, Jones repeatedly plugged his anti-Semitic, anti-American, 9/11 truther, anti-Israel website.

Right now, David Duke is wishing he was friends with Sheen because, hey, then, he could get free national airtime with these completely irresponsible, airheaded hags, too.  Of course, being the idiots that they are, the hags didn’t know what to say or how to react to Jones.  After all, before Jones came on the show, queen airhead Elisabeth Hasselbeck also blamed “Two and a Half Men” writer Chuck Lorre for Sheen’s anti-Semitism.  That’s typical for this uninformed idiota.  Memo to Elizabeth:  when you start calling someone by their Hebrew name to score Brownie points with the Jew-haters, you’re a Jew-hater.  It’s that simple.  There is no legitimizing it.  There are no excuses.  There is no moral equivalence.

But on “The View”–where millions of stupid American women get their worldview–there are all of these things.  This Hasseldumb moron-ette is quite selective in her outrage.  She insisted that Don Imus should be fired for his comments about Rutgers basketball players’ being “nappy headed,” but on the “Chaim Levine” comment by Sheen (about Jewish writer, Lorre), she’s all about blaming the Jew.  Yup, that’s the ticket.  We all know where she would have been 70 years ago in Germany.  Joining Carlos Estevez (yup, that’s Charlie Sheen’s real name, but you can’t say that or you’re a bigot; only Heeb names are allowed)  in helping guys like Chuck Lorre/”Chaim Levine” into the train car.

But I don’t completely blame “The View” hags and ABC for bringing this Jew-hating, America-hating conspiracy theorist and FoCS (Friend of Charlie Sheen) and letting him go on and on with his lies about “The Zionists!”  I blame people like Matt Drudge, a self-hating Jew who has been promoting and linking to the nutty Jones on a regular basis.  Drudge, whose mother is Jewish, apparently had a bad experience as a kid in a Jewish summer camp.  It made him hate Jews.  And that’s why you regularly see anti-Israel headlines linked on The Drudge Report.  It’s also why you regularly see links to Alex Jones.  As I noted, Jones is truly no different from David Duke, except that he’s even more unhinged.  Both hate Jews, both hate Israel, both are 9/11 truthers, and both are extremist fringe characters.  But only one of them is friends with Charlie Sheen.

Matt Drudge gave Alex Jones more publicity, mainstream exposure and respect, and, now, as a result of all of that, he has a seat at the table on an ABC show.

Get a clue, Matt:  if Jones and Sheen were in charge, you’d be in the camps right there with me.  And we’d know your Hebrew name, too.

For the record, my Hebrew name is Chayah Devorah.  Put that in your ovens, er . . . pipes, and smoke it. Read more at www.debbieschlussel.com

 

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Universalism as a Lure? The Emerging Case of Rob Bell

As is so often the case, most of us first learned of Rob Bell’s new book by means of Justin Taylor and his blog, “Between Two Worlds,” at the Gospel Coalition. Justin reminds me of the steady folks at the National Hurricane Center. He is able to advise of looming disaster with amazing calmness. That is why I took special notice of Justin’s stern warning: “It is unspeakably sad when those called to be ministers of the Word distort the gospel and deceive the people of God with false doctrine.”

Why would Justin feel the need to issue such a warning? He was writing about Rob Bell’s forthcoming book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, due to be released on March 29 by HarperCollins.

The publisher’s statement about the book is clearly intended to provoke controversy:

Fans flock to his Facebook page, his NOOMA videos have been viewed by millions, and his Sunday sermons are attended by 10,000 parishioners—with a downloadable podcast reaching 50,000 more. An electrifying, unconventional pastor whom Time magazine calls “a singular rock star in the church world,” Rob Bell is the most vibrant, central religious leader of the millennial generation. Now, in Love Wins: Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, Bell addresses one of the most controversial issues of faith—the afterlife—arguing that a loving God would never sentence human souls to eternal suffering. With searing insight, Bell puts hell on trial, and his message is decidedly optimistic—eternal life doesn’t start when we die; it starts right now. And ultimately, Love Wins.

Now, Rob Bell and others within the Emerging Church movement represent what can only be described as a new form of cultural Christianity. Bell plays with theology the way a cat plays with a mouse. His sermons, videos, books, and public relations are often more suggestive and subversive than clear. They are also artistically and aesthetically superior to most of what is to be found in the video section of your local Christian bookstore or on the Web.

Time is running out on the Emerging folks. They can play the game of suggestion for only so long. Eventually, the hard questions will be answered. Tragically, when the answers do come, as with the case of Brian McLaren, they appear as nothing more than a mildly updated form of Protestant liberalism.

The publicity surrounding Bell’s new book indicates that he is ready to answer one of the hardest questions — the question of the exclusivity of the Gospel of Christ. With that question come the related questions of heaven, hell, judgment, and the fate of the unregenerate. The Bible answers these questions clearly enough, but few issues are as hard to reconcile with the modern or postmodern mind than this. Of course, it was hard to reconcile with the ancient mind as well. The singularity of the person and work of Christ and the necessity of personal faith in him for salvation run counter to the pluralistic bent of the human mind, but this is nothing less than the wisdom of God and the power of God unto salvation.

Universalism and the various inclusivisms are exactly what Justin Taylor suggests — distortions of the Gospel that deceive the people of God (and non-Christians as well).

But what if all this is just clever advertising? What if Rob Bell’s book turns out to be an affirmation of the truth? Did Justin jump the gun?

There is good reason to doubt this. The most powerful argument about the book comes in the form of a video offered by Rob Bell himself. In the video, he pulls no punches. In his clever and artistic way, ever so artfully presented, he affirms what can only be described as universalism.

We must await the release of the full book in order to know what Rob Bell is really saying, but his advance promotion for the book is already saying something, and it is not good. The material he has already put forth does demand and deserve attention.

The Emerging Church movement is known for its slick and sophisticated presentation. It wears irony and condescension as normal attire. Regardless of how Rob Bell’s book turns out, its promotion is the sad equivalent of a theological striptease.

The Gospel is too precious and important to be commodified in this manner. The questions he asks are too important to leave so tantalizingly unanswered. Universalism is a heresy, not a lure to use in order to sell books. This much we know, almost a month before the book is to be released.

I am always glad to hear from readers. Write me at mail@albertmohler.com. Follow regular updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AlbertMohler.

Related Posts The Spiritual State of the Emerging Generation: A Conversation with Christian Smith (Audio) The Question of Truth and the Emerging Church (Audio) What Should We Think of the Emerging Church? Part One Today’s Radio — Video Games and the Lure of the Unreal What’s Emerging from the Emergent Church? Read more at www.albertmohler.com

 

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How Did this Happen? Why Same-Sex Marriage Makes Sense to So Many

Same-sex marriage is not an idea that emerged from a vacuum. The project of normalizing homosexuality has deep roots and ideological momentum.

Why does same-sex marriage make sense to so many people? The momentum toward the full legalization of same-sex marriage seems to intensify with every passing month — or even faster. The moral divide in this nation is now seen most clearly in the distance between those for whom marriage is exclusively heterosexual and thus a settled issue and, on the other hand, those who honestly see the legalization of same-sex marriage as a moral mandate required by justice.

Given the venerable status of marriage and its universally established heterosexual character — at least until very recently — the burden of argument falls on the need to explain how such a movement for a moral revolution gained credibility, cultural mass, and momentum. How did this happen?

A culture does not consist only of ideas and ideologies, but no culture exists without them. Given the complexity of any culture, a comprehensive map of these ideas, moral intuitions, and philosophies is impossible to create. Nevertheless, some patterns are clear enough. We can trace the acceptance of same-sex marriage to at least three major ideas that have been shaping the modern mind for some time — and are held to some extent by both social liberals and conservatives.

A Progressivist Understanding of History

One of the ideological engines of our social revolution is the idea that history reveals a progressive liberation of peoples who have suffered oppression. In this view of history, one prejudice after another has fallen as we have come to terms with the demands of justice. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

In other words, history reveals an inevitable, though tortuously long, arc toward justice and fairness. Over the course of history, innumerable superstitions and prejudices have been discarded. Slavery, once considered a social and economic necessity on both sides of the Atlantic, was overcome in Western democracies. Women demanded and were granted the right to vote. The world of Jim Crow gave way to the world of racial integration and civil rights. The mentally disabled are no longer put away in asylums. The Irish and Italians, once oppressed as the unwashed and unwanted immigrants of the Gilded Age, have risen to prominence in every arena of American life. America has elected its first African-American President. History marches on.

For obvious reasons, the movement to normalize homosexuality attached itself to this idea of historical progress. This was a natural and inevitable development, and those who formed the strategy for this movement used the most powerful tools at their disposal. The progressivist vision of history was there for the taking, and the gay rights movement took it up with enthusiasm.

Americans are naturally drawn to this understanding of history. It plays to our belief that our generation is in some way morally superior to the generations who preceded us. Liberals feast on this understanding of history and make it their main argument in any number of debates. But conservatives are shaped by this narrative as well. Conservatives accept the undeniable fact that history, both long and short, tells a story that we should celebrate at countless turns.

But the problem with the progressivist understanding of history is that it cannot stand alone. It cannot be the only narrative. There has to be some means of identifying what is truly a manifestation of oppression and what is a structure necessary for human flourishing. If the only story we have is the narrative of liberation from oppression, then, as Karl Marx understood, all that remains is an unstoppable revolution that dissolves all bonds of relationship, kinship, tradition, and moral order. Should children be liberated from the authority of their parents? Should all prisoners be liberated from their cells? Should human beings be liberated from the obligations of family and kinship?

The progressivist understanding of history must be checked by a recognition that liberation from oppression is not the only true and compelling narrative. The affirmation and preservation of moral obligations and commitments must be the companion narrative. But, in order to understand why so many among us see something as morally revolutionary and socially subversive as same-sex marriage to be something to demand and champion, consider the fact that many of our friends and neighbors see same-sex marriage as only the next logical step in overcoming prejudice and discrimination. It is the only story they know, and it is powerful.

A Radical Individualism

Paired with the progressivist understanding of history is a vision of individualism that is virtually unprecedented in human experience. An affirmation of the importance of the individual is written into the fabric of modern thought. Our understanding of human rights, of individual liberty, and of personal responsibility are central to the American self-consciousness. Add to this the fact that the rise of the therapeutic worldview has recast human experience as a continuous project of individual self-discovery and self-definition.

But, if individualism was central to the American experience from the beginning, the current form of this idea is far more radical than previous generations could imagine. The current form of individualism includes the claim that we can define ourselves even in terms of gender and sex. This individualism is titanic in its reach, producing what psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton once described as the “Protean Man.” We demand the total right to define ourselves.

Once again, we must recognize that the opponents of same-sex marriage have also been drinking heavily at the springs that feed this powerful idea. Many conservatives have bought into their own form of expressive individualism, taking refuge in the structures of social order only when convenient, bending moral codes to our own individualistic demands, forfeiting moral obligations when they conflict with our favorite project — ourselves.

The control on the destructive force of expressive individualism is the reality of moral obligation and the goodness of true self-knowledge. As Christians know — and must always remember — we are known before we ever emerge to know. Our Creator knew us before we even came to be, and he established our identity before we came to know ourselves. True happiness can come only by embracing with gratitude the identity we are given by the Creator. This idea — now reaching even to sex and gender — is anathema to the modern mind.

The Claim of Moral Autonomy

Throughout most of human history, moral principles were considered to be objectively true and inviolate. The universe was understood to be ruled by a moral law established by a divine Lawgiver and Judge. That understanding has given way to the belief that most, if not all, moral principles are the products of social construction — we make them up as we go along.

While most criticisms of moral relativism are directed at individual conduct, on the larger scale, the entire society is increasingly convinced that moral principles must give way to new understandings, findings, and insights. When this idea is added to the progressivist understanding of history and the radical form of modern individualism, we have a recipe for moral revolution.

And, as with the other ideological factors we have considered, this one is also affirmed, to some degree, by both liberals and conservatives. There can be no doubt that some understandings of moral principle were indeed shaped by prejudice and ignorance, leading to great human suffering. Laws against interracial marriage were prime examples of this prejudice, and there are many others. Fear of minorities, including homosexuals, has led to scapegoating and hatred, cloaked in the language of moral rectitude. These things must give way to moral progress and be denounced with moral fervor.

But, once again, not all moral principles are examples of oppression. To the contrary, human life is only possible within the context of enduring moral laws and principles that liberate all human beings to their true humanity. This is where those who support same-sex marriage and those who oppose it face each other across a huge gulf of understanding. One side sees a moral mandate to liberate marriage from its heterosexual limitation. The other side sees natural marriage as a liberating, God-given institution for human flourishing. There is precious little shared ground in this debate.

Same-sex marriage is not an idea that emerged from a vacuum. The project of normalizing homosexuality has deep roots and ideological momentum. The elites, the entertainment culture, the news media, and the educational establishment celebrate all three of these ideas as central to the modern experience and as ideological propulsion into a better future.

So, when we wonder how it came to be that so many among us now favor same-sex marriage, we must remember that, to some extent or another, virtually all of us have embraced the ideas that make such a moral revolution thinkable. And ideas, as Richard Weaver famously reminded us, have consequences.

I am always glad to hear from readers. Write me at mail@albertmohler.com. Follow regular updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AlbertMohler.

There is no way to say everything that needs to be said about an issue such as this in a single essay of any length. For more on this subject, please use the search feature at this website. I have written more than 200 articles on the issue of homosexuality. Most are available here.

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