A G K Y R A

Jewish Atheist thinks that “Orthodox Jews and many Christians will be in quite an embarrassing situation” when (if!) homosexual marriage is eventually legalized. Their stand against homosexuality is itself “morally obscene.” He hopes that Judaism will produce a “new Moses” to revise Jewish moral standards to approve of homosexuality, much like the Mormon church changed its stance on whether black people could become priests.

What Jewish Atheist, and indeed most atheists, don’t understand is the nature of Christian moral claims. I’m not just saying that they don’t agree with them–they don’t even understand them. This is clear because their moral arguments usually proceed on their assumptions rather than the Christian’s. They never make contact with Christian belief at any point in the argument. When Christians say that homosexuality is wrong, we’re just conveying a message. It’s God who says that homosexuality is wrong. God’s moral character doesn’t change on the basis of an opinion poll or to suit the preferences of a particular culture at a particular time. The fact that social mores may vary from year to year and from state to state or country to country has nothing whatsoever to do with nature of Christian moral claims. On the contrary, this kind of argument–from peer pressure–is exactly what you would find persuasive if you don’t believe in moral absolutes. If there is no moral absolute over culture, then of course you would want to fall into line with what the people around you think. Don’t you want to be liked?

Jewish Atheist, whether he realizes it or not, is asking Christians and Jews to be hypocrites. As I said above, Christians claim to tell about God’s unchanging moral standards, and our job is to call everyone to repent of being a god-unto-himself and acknowledge the living and true God, the one whose world this is, and indeed the one whose creature you are. God is the absolute, the authority. You are the creature, the one under authority. Jewish Atheist is asking Christians to do exactly the opposite–to try to make God conform to the creature. It’s the ultimate perversion, making man into god and God into a servant of men and their ethical whims.

Aren’t we glad that the Confessing Church in Nazi Germany refused to cooperate with the government? Perhaps they should have capitulated to the ethical mores of their own time and place. After all, everybody agreed about the final solution to the Jewish Problem! (I’m being sarcastic.) Aren’t we glad that they wrote and stood by the Barmen Declaration, in which they refused to compromise authentic Christian morality even under the greatest social pressure imaginable? Was Dietrich Bonhoeffer in “quite an embarrassing situation” when he was arrested by the Nazis and eventually hanged for his opposition to Hitler? Was Polycarp in “quite an embarrassing situation” when he was burned at the stake by the Romans for refusing to renounce Jesus and worship the emperor? I mean, what was the big deal! Everybody worshiped the emperor, not sincerely but just as an important part of the social and political culture. Why couldn’t those Christians just get along!

When you have truly secular religion that always works up a new menu to suit the tastes of the day, what you end up with is something like Nazi Germany. We Christians are here to tell you something very plainly. This world doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to someone who has authority and also the power to back it up. When any government or any group of people, no matter how big, set themselves in opposition to what is good and right, we Christians have an obligation to resist. Let me say again what I said earlier: we’re just the messengers. In our capacity as messengers of God, we can’t force anyone to do what’s right or force anyone not to do what’s wrong–only God can, and he will in a future time of his own choosing. But, as Americans who have a voice in government and culture, we must not relent in pressing for just laws and raising people’s moral awareness. It’s for the good of everyone, even homosexuals!

Technorati Tags: morals morality ethics homosexuals homosexuality gay+rights gay+marriage christianity judaism orthodox+judaism apologetics evangelical reformed presbyterian PCA

I do leave comments at other blogs sometimes. In case anyone happens to be interested, I’m going to begin posting links to other blogs where I comment. Sometimes, there is more content in my comments, here and elsewhere, than in my posts themselves.

• Jewish Atheist: “Fear is at the Root of Fundamentalism“
• Jewish Atheist: “The Torah, Pedophilia, and Subjective Morality“

Those are the most recent. I’m off now to ETS!