Throughout my entire 40-year pastoral career
(calling to Christian ministry), I’ve heard outside critics of the Church say
“the church is full of hypocrites.” To
which I’ve repeatedly acknowledged by saying, “It’s a hospital for sinners, not
a hotel for saints.” Now I wonder if
those same critics apply their charge of hypocrisy on society as a whole. For today, we live in a country where people
think it is okay for rock stars to cancel concerts because of their beliefs,
but it’s not okay for bakers, florists and photographers to do the same. America has become a nation of confused
people who believe it’s good to reinforce the abnormal behavior of a few by
altering the normal behavior of the majority.
Isn’t that insanity?
So how did we get here? As I’ve been preaching about it for years, we
no longer live in a society that filters the world through the Biblical prism
of “right and wrong” or “good and evil.” In the absence of moral absolutes, people tend
to make issues over non-issues and create wars defending non-victims. The latest is the transgender bathroom.
Laws and policies are being established that
state it is okay for a male stranger to drop his pants or relieve himself in
the same room as our women and kids – while the greater laws of decency and
morality and common sense say the opposite. Never mind the fact that the laws of nature
remind us that we can change our appearance but we cannot change our DNA. The fact is: The difference between men and
women is in their genes (not the jeans they choose to wear).
So here we’ve got people boycotting travel to
North Carolina because of their common-sense Public Facilities Privacy and
Security Act – and on the other hand, we have the Minnesota-based retail giant
(Target) introducing their new transgender bathroom policy emphasizing
“inclusivity.” In short, Target’s policy
puts the comfort of a minuscule few above the safety of the rest. Meanwhile, in the real world we need to lock the
doors of our homes and cars.
Undeniably, this new policy has got to entice
the sexual predators. Back in 2012,
Ontario, Canada amended its Human Rights Code making gender identity and
expression prohibited grounds for discrimination. Not long after, as reported by Lifesitenews.com, a male sexual predator
said he was transgender so he could gain access to two Toronto women’s
shelters. Once inside, he sexually
assaulted several women. Emotion-based,
poorly-reasoned policies like this are ripe for abuse.
A 30-year Swedish scientific study – “Long-Term
Follow-Up of Transsexual Persons Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery” – concluded
that “post-surgical transsexuals are a risk group that need long-term
psychiatric and somatic follow-up” … due to higher rates of mortality, death
from cardiovascular disease, suicide attempts, and psychiatric
hospitalizations.
Obviously, the battle lines are being drawn
and it is time for God-fearing people to stand our ground for moral decency and
defend the safety of women and girls against sexual predators who might take
advantage of imprudent laws and policies.
Join the boycott of Target. [At
the time of this blog posting, over 1-million have signed-on to the boycott and
Target’s stock has sunk by $1.5 billion.]
And if you’ve got time to vacation this summer, consider going to
beautiful North Carolina … and let them know you’re visiting because of their
law that seeks to protect women and children.
Having said all this, it’s important to
remember that the gender confused among us are people needing God’s love and
compassion displayed to them in real ways – like getting them help. But that much needed help can’t happen if our
society fails to acknowledge it as an illness [or the Church confess it as
sin].
In the meantime, bathrooms need to remain
according to one’s biological plumbing … as God created them.
Rev. Dr.
Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor,
Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
No comments:
Post a Comment