(Amos 7:8 NKJV) And the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said: "Behold, I am setting a plumb line In the midst of My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore.
25 May 2009 - California, USA - The California Supreme Court ruled that Proposition 8 promoted by the Christian Activists to ban Gay marriages will stand however, with the 18,000 eixsting gay marriages before the referrendum still valid. The activists prior to the referrendum has made clear that the decision will not affect the existing gay marriages, but after their "victory" declared that all gay marriages had to go even those before Proposition 8. The decision of course is not a complete victory for the activists and it will usher in a new and more active phase for the gay community. Truth by itself does not have legs contrary to the fear mongering and rethoric driven by the Christian activists which propogates itself for it leveraged on the fears of the majority. The ruling will mean that there will be a ballot to overturn proposition 8 and with the increasing trend of support for gays, nothing could be taken for granted.
In the recent Aware saga, the christian activists here in Singapore has said that they were only doing what is right to prevent Singapore from crossing the line ordained by God, ie, to prevent the Singapore nation who as a result of gays have a tad bit more space will tip the balance of God's judgement and grace. This is illogical, when gays only made up of 5% of the population, or 1 in 20, with the straight population, the other, or 19 out of 20 whose 7,000 divorces and 15,000 abortions a years surely would have pushed us well over this line if a consistent logic was used. Alas, their attention has been hijacked by a single issue which so outraged their sense of religion that it becomes a sin, even though harming no one, is 1000 times more sinful that their straight sins. It is hard to see beyond the log in one's eye.
We have crossed the line of grace. The Christian activist has called it a line of "sin", yes, it is thus but the sin of the vast majority resulting in the line of God's grace being crossed beyond the point of returned. This happened when innocent blood is spilled and great injustice done in a corporate and wide scale sense to the defenceless and the outcasts. We have an example of two cases in the bible:-
1) Isaiah - the hands of injustice of the majority against the poor and needy
(Isa 32:7 NKJV) Also the schemes of the schemer are evil; He devises wicked plans To destroy the poor with lying words, Even when the needy speaks justice.
(Isa 59:3,4 NKJV) For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.
2) Amos - Not giving justice at the judgement seat at the "Gate"/seats of power/courts of the city.
(Amos 5:12 NKJV) For I know your manifold transgressions And your mighty sins: Afflicting the just and taking bribes; Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.
(Amos 5:22-24 NKJV) Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream.
God's heart is particualrly sensitive to those whom the majority has rejected and despised, where there is further injustice and persecution of this group. It appears that God's hand will not tolerate the tyranny of the majority to blame a small minority for all the sins committed by the majority which we have in the case of Proposition 8 where all the failure of marriage caused by staright divorces and abortion is now blamed on gays and called "a defence of marriage".
The line is crossed, when we reach a point of no return, where what we sowed is what we reaped! in the sense of the law so favoured by these religious extremist. But they do not understand that it is a two edged sword, on one edge, we demand that the religious laws be followed even by those outside of the space of the church, but not realising the other edge that if we live by the law, we shall be judged by the law, and if we cross the line, perhaps beyond the measure of God's grace and mercy. It would be no surprise to me that within 10 to 15 years, we will have proposition "defending traditional religion" which will limit involvement of Christians in the public space and to treat them as a political entity rather than as a non profit group. The Proposition 8 will then be long overturned, but the harm caused to true and biblical christianity would be immeasurable.
In the light of the religious fundamentalism, we see a light in Christianity that marched forth in defiance of mainstream christianity standing up for the basic rights of GLBT something that Jesus would have done if He was here today.
Pacific School of Religion faculty and staff arrested following Prop 8 decision
Four clergy members on the faculty and staff of Pacific School of Religion (PSR) were arrested near City Hall in San Francisco in acts of civil disobedience following the California Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a constitutional amendment that denies the full equality of same-sex couples under the law. The Rev. Jeffrey Kuan, associate professor of Old Testament at PSR; Rev. Deborah Lee, program director of PSR’s PANA Institute (Institute for Leadership Development and Study of Pacific and Asian North American Religion); Rev. Nicole Naffaa, director of recruitment and admission for the multidenominational Christian seminary; and Rev. Roland Stringfellow, who serves as a program coordinator at PSR’s Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry (CLGS).
The four, along with other PSR faculty and staff and graduates, had marched behind a banner stating “Faith demands justice! Marriage Equality Now!” at a rally held in advance of the court ruling. Below is a press release from Pacific School of Religion that was sent out just after the court’s announcement was made.
It is time, that we stand up for Christ, lest the God's message of Love and Grace through the jesus' death and resurrection looses all its credibility and relevance by the ill action of the extremist christians which makes up its vast majority. There is indeed a plumb line spoken in the Book of Amos. It is not line for the people of Singapore, nor the Gay minority, it is a plumb line for Christians whether today we insists on letting Justice flow like a river that God's grace and mercy may also thus flow into our lands, or are we going to be perpetrators of injustice bringing calamity to this land. It is time for prayerful reflection and contemplation lest we cross the line set by God.
|