Last
Saturday I was mowing the yard when I began smelling burning rubber. That’s
never a good sign, especially when accompanied by a sputtering mower. I didn’t
stop right away of course, because I only had a little lawn left to mow, and if
the thing would just hang in there for five minutes I could finish the job and
make the yard look great. Needless to say, that didn’t happen. The transmission
belt was done, and so was my mowing for the day. You can’t run a mower with a
frayed, worn, broken belt.
Nor can you
run a nation with a frayed, worn, broken values system. The rubber is burning
and the motor is sputtering. We’re not going to get the job done of keeping
this country great if our once-strong moral values are reduced to threads. But
that’s exactly what’s happening right here in America, in case you haven’t noticed.
Latest case
in point: last week the St. Louis Rams made Michael Sam the first openly gay
player to be drafted into the NFL. Upon his selection, an emotional Sam turned
to his boyfriend and kissed him for the entire ESPN viewing audience to witness.
The
reactions to the kiss have been mixed. One former Super Bowl champion wrote via
Twitter that he felt this was inappropriate, considering younger children may
have been watching the draft. He says he has received death threats against him
and his family for his comments.
A current Miami Dolphins player, Don Jones,
also tweeted that this behavior was “disgusting.” The Dolphins quickly
reprimanded Jones, fining him an undisclosed amount of money, and barred him
from team activities until he completes “training for his recent comments made
on social media.”
So let me
see if I’ve got this straight (no pun intended). If I exercise my First
Amendment rights to speak out against what I believe is a disgusting behavior,
I am risking a fine from my employer, ordered to take “training” to either
change my mind about what I believe is right and wrong, or at least to keep my
mouth shut and by my silence give approval, and probably receive death threats
against me and my family.
You might
also remember the Mayor of Chicago vowed to keep Chick-Fil-A out of town
because their values didn’t align with Chicago’s values. This was after COO Dan
Cathy publicly affirmed traditional marriage. You’re not allowed to believe
same sex marriage is wrong in Chicago and still expect to do business.
Then there
was the flap regarding Phil Robertson’s comments about his belief that
homosexuality is wrong – even quoting the Bible as his source! – which led to
the A&E network temporarily dropping Duck Dynasty after a public outcry
against Phil.
You need to
know there’s also a bill in the U.S. Senate instructing the government to
monitor and analyze speech in media looking for anything it considers “hate
speech.” While purporting to prevent those who might “advocate or encourage violent
acts or hate crimes,” S.2219 is also believed to be a tool for silencing those
who speak against homosexuality, whether on a church’s website or posts on your
individual Facebook page.
Some
people, not surprisingly, are offering Michael Sam their gleeful support.
President Obama said this: “The President congratulates Michael Sam, the Rams
and the NFL for taking an important step forward today in our Nation’s
journey.”
There’s a lot more than a
transmission belt burning up in America, and the issue of the normalization and
acceptance of homosexual behavior (and the silencing of those opposed) remains
at the forefront of our cultural disintegration.
If I don’t get that mower
fixed, the yard will soon be a mess. Likewise, if we don’t get our values fixed
soon, this nation will be a wreck. Thankfully, God still offers forgiveness to
all who repent of sin and turn in faith to follow the ways of Christ Jesus. His
value system never wears out.
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