Some years ago...

Some years ago I preached a sermon at a Pan-Orthodox gathering right after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom decided to disregard California law and begin allowing same sex weddings. I spoke of how his actions were prophetic in that they were a foretaste of what would come. My point was that the disintegration of morals and the culture were, in part, because Orthodox Christians were absent from the real world and I reminded them the world is the way it is in part because we are not who we are called to be.

Now news is coming from California about protests following the passing of Proposition 8 in California, a constitutional amendment that returned California law to its historic understanding of marriage and family. Religious buildings have been defaced, people have been verbally and physically attacked, and marchers have threatened both people and institutions they believe supported the proposition.

Amazing, isn't it, how some of the proponents of "tolerance" and "inclusivity" get angry and violent when they don't get their way. If you think that the movement towards same sex marriage is completely benign and simply about "equal rights" do a Google search on this and take a look at the faces of the people in these protests. Take a look, as well, at what some "activists" have done, in countries where same sex marriage is the law of the land, to harass and intimidate those they cannot indoctrinate. Witness, again, the wholesale purge of traditional clergy and parishes currently underway by the very people who have come to power in the Episcopal Church by seeking "dialogue" and "openness" in the areas of sexuality and the church. The information can be startling.

Because of our Faith we cannot respond in kind or act out of fear but we do need to be wise. Underneath the gentle hand of "tolerance" and "inclusivity" there can be hard balled up fist aimed right at your face if, as a traditional Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, or Buddhist for that matter, you dare to oppose the new regime. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, seek in love to reach out and be a channel of grace, and always be ready to pray for even those who would, if they had the chance, silence you.