![\"Two](\"http:\/\/pilgrimworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Target1.jpg\" "\\"Target")
<\/a><\/p>\nA pair of men, presumably a homosexual couple, enjoy a walk with their son. In contrast to the shocking exhibitionism that sometimes characterizes pride events, the men are conservatively dressed, are not engaged in any questionable activity, and look very happy. What could possibly be wrong with this scene? By design, it attempts to establish the normalcy of same-sex marriage and family.<\/p>\n
1. A Missing Mother<\/h2>\n
But all is not well. Consider first that the boy\u2019s mother is missing. Of course he has a biological mother, every living person does. The Supreme Court has immense power but they cannot overrule the basic facts of biology. This boy is going to grow up without his mother.<\/p>\n
Such a situation has been common throughout world history, often due to the death of the mother. More often in modern times it is due to the choice of the mother. Regardless of the reason, it is a tragedy; we should not accept this as normal.<\/p>\n The two-father scenario raises a third possibility: a surrogate mother. The father may have paid a woman to carry the child for him. She may or may not be the biological mother. \u201cGestational surrogacy,\u201d where an egg donor is the biological mother but not the birth mother, is especially complicated. Mix a genetic mother, a birth mother, a father, a stepfather, a large exchange of money, possible pregnancy complications and birth defects, and you have what can only be described as a legal quagmire.<\/p>\n \u201cBut a majority of states\u2026 have no laws directly addressing surrogacy, leaving many such arrangements in legal limbo and raising a number of vexing social, legal and ethical issues involving parenthood, the best interests of children, and the rights of same-sex couples and other nontraditional families for the courts to resolve. (Mark Hansen, \u201cAs Surrogacy Becomes More Popular, Legal Problems Proliferate,\u201d ABA Journal.com<\/em><\/a>). Legal issues can be modified and clarified, but the social and ethical issues are not so easily dismissed.<\/p>\n Throughout history many a stepmother has come to fill the role of missing mother. However, the boy in this photo tragically is not going to have a stepmother either. He will have to do with two \u201cfathers.\u201d For people proud of diversity this is an ironic loss of parental diversity.<\/p>\n The Bible confirms the common-sense notion that a mother and father bring a helpful diversity to parenting. \u201cHear, my son, your father\u2019s instruction, and forsake not your mother\u2019s teaching\u201d (Proverbs 1:8).<\/p>\n Secular authorities agree. For example, \u201cThis unfortunate absence [of a mother figure] may leave room for countless problems, including negative influences on gender development.\u201d (\u201cGender Development of Boys Without Their Mothers,\u201d Angeliki Coconi, ModernMom.com<\/em><\/a>)<\/p>\n So the lack of a mother in this boy\u2019s life is troubling. But the trouble goes deeper. The photo could be same-sex friendship, a father and his friend. It could be traditional family, a father and an uncle. But surely in the context of pride month it indicates more; it indicates same sex marriage. In what ways is marriage more that merely a friendship? Surely a central component is same-sex sex. What these men do on the street is not the central problem; it is, to be blunt, what they do in bed.<\/p>\n The Bible encourages same-sex friendship but it strongly forbids same-sex sex. The details of the Bible\u2019s teaching are too much to explore in detail in this article, but a quick word cloud based on the relevant passages establishes the clear tone of the teaching:<\/p>\n The passages are uniformly negative, using terms like abomination, immoral, and unnatural. People looking for a positive spin can quibble over the details; for example, other things, some seemingly minor things, are also called an abomination. Exploring that word would take another blog post, but no amount of rhetoric can obscure the fact that, whatever abomination means exactly, it is clearly bad.<\/p>\n Finally, this picture is wrong to inject race into the discussion. It is common to represent same-sex couples as interracial. This is an attempt to preempt the moral argument by suggesting that \u201chomophobia\u201d and racism are parallel. Historically some people argued a moral basis for racism, the argument goes, and they were wrong. Hence the people now arguing a moral argument against same-sex marriage will some day admit they are wrong. It is not a moral issue, we are told, it is simply a phobia.<\/p>\n This parallel is wrong, for several reasons. Race is a human construct that is largely cultural; there is no clear scientific dividing line between \u201craces\u201d of people. Sex, on the other hand, is unambiguously binary and biological, determined by X- and Y-chromosomes.\u00a0 The rare and complicated genetic abnormalities that occasionally occur are beyond the scope this article but serve to emphasize the norm, not to deny it. The shift to the term \u201cgender\u201d instead of \u201csex\u201d confirms this point. Gender is a human construct and may be defined in a way that is fluid and not binary. Such definitions do not change the facts of biology \u2013 you have a working Y-chromosome or you don\u2019t. Biologically, race and gender are not parallel.<\/p>\n Historically, Bible arguments against interracial marriage were based on questionable chains of inference. To the contrary, the Bible explicitly takes us back to the beginning when we all came from a single set of parents (think Noah, not just Adam, making Cain irrelevant). It takes us to the end of time, when \u201cevery kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation\u201d are together in heaven.<\/p>\n In contrast to interracial marriage, which is never directly addressed, the Bible\u2019s teaching on same-sex relationships is unambiguous. Considered scientifically or biblically, the issues are simply not parallel.<\/p>\n The Rachel Dolezal case made the difference abundantly clear. A disgraced civil rights activist, Rachel said \u201cI identify as black,\u201d even though she is clearly not. ABC news summarized,<\/p>\n \u201cDolezal’s story had not only led to international headlines but generated a stream of social media comments about so-called \u2018transracialism,\u2019 comparing Dolezal\u2019s case to that of a transgender person.\u00a0 But some experts say such an analogy makes no sense. Anita Thomas, associate professor of counseling psychology at Loyola University Chicago, said there are genetic differences between genders that don\u2019t exist for races. \u2018Biological sex has biological physical components and we know race does not\u2019 in the same way, Thomas said.\u201d (Gillian Mohney,\u00a0 \u201cWhy some Experts Debunk \u2018Transracial\u2019 to Explain Rachel Dolezal Case,” ABCNews.go.com<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n In other words, race and gender are not parallel. It is wrong to inject race into the same-sex marriage discussion.<\/p>\n Speaking of marriage, there is of course more to marriage than merely sex. However, the Bible\u2019s teaching on marriage is equally unambiguous. Consider Jesus\u2019 summary statement in Matthew 19:4, \u201cHave ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female [gender], and said, \u2018For this cause shall a man leave father and mother [family], and shall cleave to his wife [marriage]: and they twain shall be one flesh [sexuality]?\u2019\u201d The Bible does not tolerate same-sex sex. It similarly leaves no room for same-sex \u201cmarriage.\u201d<\/p>\n Do not take the above criticisms as encouragement to move to another extreme. Unconditional acceptance of homosexuality is not an option for the Bible believer; hatred, persecution, and harassment are equally unchristian reactions. A right response starts with \u201clove your neighbor\u201d (one of the two \u201cgreat commandments,\u201d Matthew 22:39). It extends to \u201cdo good to all men\u201d (Galatians 6:10). It even includes love for someone who persecutes you (Matthew 5:44).<\/p>\n None of that means to tolerate sin. We are taught to \u201chate every false way\u201d (Psalm 119:128). Some people struggle with love and hate both being in the Bible, but there is no contradiction. The love is directed at people and the hate at the false way.<\/p>\n The Bible openly encourages not pride but humility; this is a good starting point. How about a \u201chumility month\u201d during which we all admit that we have rebelled against God in our own way? And then we\u2019ll have a \u201credemption month\u201d during which we explain the rescue that God has accomplished in our lives, a redemption he offers to anyone willing to give up their rebellion. Then we need a \u201cBible study month\u201d or more to explore all the topics that this article has only touched on. If you have no respect for the Bible you may not find any of this very persuasive (and it wasn\u2019t targeted at you anyway). If you value the Bible, consider these things.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" June 2015 was declared to be \u201cnational LGBT pride month\u201d by no less than the president of the United States.\u00a0 Large parts of the nation celebrated including the retail giant Target, Inc. Target launched a rainbow version of their logo, … Continue reading <\/a>
\n(Mother with her Child<\/em> by Zempl\u00e9nyi Tivadar)<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n(Photo USDA, public domain.)<\/p>\n2. No Stepmother<\/h2>\n
3. Immorality<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n4. The Race Parallel<\/h2>\n
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\n(Recent photo of Rachel by Aaron Robert Kathman, CCAS 4.0. Childhood photo from a handout released by her family.)<\/p>\n5. A Word About Marriage<\/h2>\n
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\n(Signing the Register<\/em> by Edmund Blair Leighton)<\/p>\n6. Concluding Thoughts<\/h2>\n