Philadelphia Inquirer | 08/24/2006 | Gay rights vs. religious beliefs

Philadelphia Inquirer | 08/24/2006 | Gay rights vs. religious beliefs

I’ve got to get to the office, but this article caught my attention on the way out the door. It points out where the homosexual agenda is headed, and I think we are on a collision course in Canada. The gay marriage thing will likely be an issue used to attack the Christian church if it is allowed to stand. A few excerpts from the article:

Live and let live. A simple concept, to be sure, but can we apply it to the growing conflict between gay rights and religious beliefs? The answer increasingly seems to be no.

And note this:

If the gay-rights movement is willing to trample on the moral beliefs of the Boy Scouts for the sake of “tolerance,” will religious institutions that also provide social services and oppose gay rights on religious grounds fare any better?

Not likely! And then notice this:

In the 1982 case of Bob Jones University v. United States, the Supreme Court found that when a charitable organization’s policies become “at odds with the common community conscience,” its state and federal tax exemptions may be revoked, even if the policies are religiously motivated. This decision allowed governments at all levels to revoke the income or property-tax exemptions of religious institutions that “discriminate” against same-sex couples. All it takes is a court, legislature, or tax bureaucrat to find that the “community conscience” demands it.

While many decried BJU’s old policy, including me, I realized that the court battle had far reaching implications when it was fought and lost.

We certainly need to be ‘wise as serpents and harmless as doves’ in these troubling days.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3