BY CHRISTIE APOLLONIA NICOLLES

The recent Statement from The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops’ of the United States of America condemning the Supreme Court ruling to license same sex “marriage” is Right On!

“The Supreme Court, in the narrowest majority possible has overstepped its purview by essentially redefining marriage itself. It has attempted to settle a polarizing social and moral question through legislative fiat. It is immoral and unjust for our government to establish in law a “right” for two members of the same sex to wed. Such legislation harms society and especially threatens children who deserve the loving care of both a father and a mother. The highest Court of our land, rather than standing as a beacon of justice, is now influenced by the thinking of Hollywood celebrities, who are idolized. As the Bible teaches, beware of idols.

“As Orthodox Christian Bishops, charged by our Savior Jesus Christ to shepherd His flock, we will continue to uphold and proclaim the teaching of our Lord that marriage from its inception, is the lifelong sacramental union of a man and a woman.

“Therefore, we call upon all Orthodox Christians in our nation to remain firm in their Orthodox faith, and renew their deep reverence for commitment to marriage as taught by the Church. We also call upon our nation’s civic leaders to respect the law of Almighty God and uphold the deeply-rooted beliefs of millions of Americans.

“That being said, we must stress that persons with homosexual orientation are to be cared for with the same mercy and love that is bestowed by our Lord Jesus Christ upon all humanity. All persons are called by God to grow spiritually and morally toward holiness.”

Gays already had equal rights – what they actually demand are special legal rights.

But we cannot be a society bullied into accepting all kinds of immoral sexual relationships: Now that same-sex marriage is legally recognized, what’s next? Legalizing incest? Pedophilia? Polygamy? Bestiality? Or any other satanic aberration?

Philosophers over the years and centuries have spoken out strongly against homosexuality. Two of numerous examples include Soren Kierkegaard, who said “the plenitude of human nature is found only in the unity of male and female,” and Alice Von Hildebrand, who said “to advocate two fathers or two mothers makes the stars bellow. It is metaphysically impossible for two men or two women to complete each other.”

The legalization of gay “marriage” turns a moral wrong into a civil right. And that is a false equivalent, because it is not the same as racial equality. In fact, many conservative black ministers resent gay activists using the race card to push this agenda. There is now an organization of black pastors against gay marriage.

Liberals are out of control in every arena, especially in their relentless quest for equality. Same-sex unions are a mockery; a license to legitimize sinful behavior.

The Orthodox Christian Church, since first-century ecclesiastical life, unreservedly condemns all expressions of perverted sexual experience that prove contrary to God’s moral order. It believes that homosexuality should be treated by society as an immoral and dangerous perversion – a sinful failure. Instead, the Church works to restore the sexual deviant through pastoral care and repentance. Correction, not accommodation, is what’s called for.

St. John Chrysostom denounced homosexual acts as being contrary to nature, that sodomy is an unpardonable offense, doubly destructive since such deviance threatens the species. Proponents of the homosexual revolution seek to sow confusion within the church; they are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They invoke revisionist distortions of scripture. Look at the downfall of some mainline Protestant churches caving to political correctness but driving out the faithful. Religion provides the yardstick by which human acts are measured and that’s why it is a target.

Hostility against religious freedom is everywhere. In Texas, a lesbian mayor tried to subpoena church pastors’ sermons for preaching against homosexuality. Finally she dropped the matter, after Christians all over America mailed her hundreds of Bibles.

In the Sermon on the Mount: instead of loosening Old Testament law, He intensified its demands. Jesus’ requirement for discipleship was self-denial: to crucify the self, losing one’s life. The Holy Spirit cannot enter a body of sin.

Legal embrace of same-sex marriage undermines the institution of real marriage. It denies children either a mother or a father, and confuses them. It is an artificial union, not entitled to protection from the state.

Religious freedom is violated when businesses are not permitted to exercise their own religious beliefs and refuse to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, when public schools teach acceptance of homosexuality, when clergy are sued for refusal to perform a same-sex marriage ceremony, etc.

The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah established a measure of evil by which all other sins are judged, as recorded in sacred scripture. In fact, no sin has been more condemned than the sin of sodomy. Moreover, the fastest way to destroy a civilized society is the promotion of sexual deviancy. After all, in the Roman Empire, Nero was a degenerate sodomite who murdered his mother.

Jesus makes clear in the New Testament that he opposes homosexuality. “I, Jesus, have sent my Angel to testify to you these things. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral, murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie”.

“Gay marriage” is an oxymoron and rejection of core Judeo-Christian ethics. St. Paul understood same-sex intercourse is an affront to God’s stamp on gender. St. Paul’s critique would find absurd any argument for gay marriage, if not, the church would have validated such incestuous unions long ago.

Both the Old and New Testament indicate only a marriage between one man and woman is God’s one and only plan for mankind.

Throughout the bible, God mandated punishment for sexual perversion. These mandates were codified in America in the form of sodomy laws, laws against adultery, etc.

A healthy society does not celebrate perversion. In Russia and India, for example, gay parades are not permitted. The Dalai Lama of Tibet rejects same-sex acts, calling it “a hindrance to enlightenment, from the Buddhist point of view. Men to men, women to women, that is considered sexual misconduct.”

But in our own society, we have become morally lawless and Godless.

Christie Nicolles is a writer and speaker on theological and philosophical topics.