11.07.08
The Continuing Saga of Politics as Usual in Los Angeles
It was never my intent to focus on political issues on this blog. It’s actually ironic that I’ve posted any political views given that generally I’m apolitical. However, while I don’t get much involved with politics, I will admit that at times, I do pay attention or somewhat keep up with current events. And with the particularly turbulent election, it was hard not to get swept up with the latest news. I thought that since the elections are now over that my blogging would get back to my usual topics, however, apparently, things have not quite settled here in Los Angeles. Yesterday, there was a big traffic jam in front of one of the large Mormon Temples in West Los Angeles due to political protests. What? Protest? Just two days after the election? Why yes, the passing of Proposition 8 has the gay community up in arms. According to the Associated Press in an article titled, “Thousands in Los Angeles Protest Gay-Marriage Ban”,
“The ballot measure passed Tuesday, which was sponsored by a coalition of religious and social conservative groups, amends the California Constitution to define marriage as a heterosexual act. It overrides a state Supreme Court ruling that briefly gave same-sex couples the right to wed.”
In a nutshell, gay marriages are now banned here in California, oye! Did I see that coming? Honestly, there are so many open gays here that I thought that Prop 8 would be resoundingly crushed. We are even close (in proximity) to neighbors with “vote No for Prop 8″ signs planted on their front lawns “still.” But the day after elections, I was surprised to find that I was wrong. My oldest son, Andrew, popped his head into my room and claimed, “Mom, Prop 8 passed!” There is still a glimmer of Biblical values here after all. It was like a breath of fresh air. Granted Prop 8 only passed by about 1 million votes, so that’s kind of unsettling considering there were about 10 million votes entered. That would mean that votes were almost 50/50, and that’s a bit scary or too close for comfort for a Christain, anyway. I had suspected that if for any reason Prop 8 did pass, that the gay community would eventually move to reverse it. However, I did not expect that they would move so soon, i.e. two days! And apparently, according to The Salt Lake Tribune this morning, there is a protest scheduled for 6PM tonight at the Church of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) because evidently, large funds (to the tune of $22 million by some accounts) were generated by the LDS to get the word out to vote Yes to Prop 8.
Wow, so this will be interesting to see if they will be able to reverse the ban on gay marriages here in California. I’m curious with how they would go about that since evidently, the majority has spoken, and it is now considered part of the Constitution, so they can’t claim that Prop 8 is against the Constitution. So with a little reading I find that the grounds that they intend to use to overturn Prop 8 is that Prop 8 is a “revision” of the Consitution, not an amendment. The claim is that a revision of the Constitution must “first” go through the Legislature “before” going to the voters. A technicality, yes, but effective? We’ll see.
Stepping back for a moment, I wonder if Christians should be fighting for this. And I wonder, “What would Jesus have done?” And when I think of the Bible and the New Testament, there is no reference that Jesus spent any effort to legally overturn any current laws of the existing government. Does that mean that the government during his time was perfect? I venture to say, “hardly.” But apparently, changing government laws was not Jesus’s priority. As a matter of fact, in Romans 1, Paul discusses how people have forsaken God and turned to all sorts of evil (in this chapter it also “specifically” describes homosexuality where, “women exchange the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another.”) The result? Does God force them to change their ways? Does Jesus or Paul go running around with signs in protest? Apparently, not. Instead Paul tells us that as a result, “God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting. . . Romans 1:28 What? He “let’s” them continue being immoral? Evidently so, and I “think” the purpose is for their judgment. Jesus will return, and all sorts of prophesies will come to pass, which we can not stop. So what do we do? Revelation 22:11 tells us, “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.” It is my belief that our job as Christians is to follow God’s word, not force others to follow God’s word. We will all be judged according to our deeds, so it is my job to make sure “my family and I” are living our lives pleasing to God, and not meddling in other people’s lives forcing them to do what we think they should do. With that in mind, I sit back and watch the world.
Marlakins
