Dated 17th November 2008
On November 4th,
California
upheld traditional marriage by passing Proposition 8 by a half million votes, thus amending the state's constitution to restrict the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman. The homosexual community is not taking this lying down. Before the week was out, bitter gay-rights activists challenged the will of the people with litigation.
They also caused road blocks, disrupted traffic, picketed churches, abused black and Hispanic people (who voted overwhelmingly for Prop 8) and painted graffiti.
The demonstration began at a Mormon temple complex in Westwood where marchers protested at the church's support of Proposition 8, which won 52 percent support on Tuesday 4th November for its definition of marriage as a heterosexual union. Same-sex marriage had only been allowed in
California
for a matter of months since a state Supreme Court decision earlier this year
Proposition 8 passed despite an advert which ran all over
California
on Election Day - and which surely sets a record for anti-religious bigotry. Two clean-cut young men knock at the door of a lesbian couple. The men identify themselves as Mormon missionaries. "We're here to take away your rights," they announce.
They snatch the women's wedding rings off their fingers and ransack their home. When they find the couple's marriage license, they rip it in half. "Say no to a church taking over your government," the voiceover says. "Vote 'no' on Proposition 8."
Despite such vicious attacks,
California
's Proposition 8, which defined marriage as between one man and one woman, passed. But the assaults on churches have just begun. The Mormon Headquarters and a local Mormon temple received the fake- white- powder- in- an- envelope treatment.
Atheists are always preaching about "love" and "tolerance" but although they demand it, they can't show it. They're not only unloving and intolerant, many of them are downright hateful.
The Mormons, a 2% minority in
California
, came in for most of the pro-gay hate. Maybe the protestors regard them as a soft touch as they are so on the fringe.
Two days after the election, 2,000 homosexual protesters surrounded a Mormon temple in
Los Angeles
chanting "Mormon scum." Protesters also picketed Rick Warren's
Saddleback
Church
, holding signs reading "Purpose-Driven Hate." Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills was spray painted. Church members' cars have been vandalized, and at least two Christians were assaulted.
Sherrie Derriko, a longtime Saddleback Church member and hair salon owner from Mission Viejo, said she was bothered that protesters had targeted houses of worship. As she drove by, she rolled down her window to offer some advice.
"Read the Bible. God made man and woman, and that's what a marriage is," she called from inside her SUV.
Derriko recounted the incident after attending services. "When we saw them out there, we thought, 'Why are they not over this? Do they think they're going to change anything, or are they just stirring up trouble at our church?'
Protesters even hurled racial epithets at African-Americans because African-Americans voted overwhelmingly in favour of traditional marriage.
Racist graffiti was found in the Los Angeles area, where swastikas, racial slurs and "Go Back To Africa" were spray-painted on sidewalks, houses and cars.
During a "peaceful demonstration" at the Palm Springs City Hall an elderly woman was verbally and physically assaulted. The cross she was carrying was ripped from her hands by a burly homosexual man, then thrown to the ground and trampled on. VIDEO
It wasn't just California that felt the hatred of the homosexuals. Worldnetdaily.com tells what happened in a church in Michigan:
"Worshippers at a Bible-teaching church in Lansing, Mich., were stunned Sunday when members of a pro-homosexual, pro-anarchy organization named Bash Back interrupted their service to fling propaganda and condoms around the sanctuary, drape a profane banner from the balcony and feature two lesbians making out at the pulpit."
The protestors also shouted "Jesus was gay." That's just silly because God makes it clear that sodomy is an "abomination." (Lev. 19:2) Sodomy is "against nature," plus same-sex sex is "unseemly." (Rom 1:26-27) And by the way, for those who don't have a simple grasp of Christianity, Christians believe Jesus Christ is God incarnate. Saying Jesus was gay shows colossal ignorance. Hint to the "gay" movement: This is so not the way to earn the respect and support of evangelicals.
The pastor of the church that was invaded wrote the following:
"After things settled down, the blasphemy ended, the lewd props removed and the families safe from fear of additional men and women running into and past them the pastor took the stage and led the congregation in one more prayer...not for retribution, or divine justice or a celestial comeuppance... but instead that the troubled individuals who'd just defiled the Lord's house, so full of anger and hate, would know Jesus' love in their lives and God's peace that exceeds human understanding."
Clearly, Christians need to redouble their efforts to help people understand what marriage is all about. In Los Angeles, when protesters gathered at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, they chanted, "What Would Jesus say?"
As it happens, we know what Jesus did say on this subject (apart from writing the whole Bible as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, that is):
Mar 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
Mar 10:7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
Mar 10:8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
And 'one flesh' is just what a pair of homosexuals can never be.
We can give the atheists, the abortionists, the blasphemers, the gay activists, credit for one thing; they know there is a culture war going on, they know where the battle-lines are drawn and they have dug their trenches. Christians in
America
are waking up. There are signs that Christians are recognising the battle-front over here too. Those Christians who join this spiritual battle are not horrid, or unloving - they are if anything more loving than those who share their faith but who don't care to get involved. They know that civilisation itself is at stake.
As Stonewall might put it: 'Some people are Christian, and some people believe that homosexuality is an abomination. Get over it!'
Main sources:
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/mwest/081117
http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=10520
