As Western culture continues to head straight into the cesspool, there are at least two options. The downward decline will either continue unabated, or some concerned individuals will rise up and shout, ‘Enough is enough’. And sometimes when things get so out of control, those who stand up and speak out can come from unexpected quarters.
We of course expect some people to be doing their job and speaking out. Certainly the Christian churches should be at the forefront of this, offering a prophetic voice to the godlessness and decadence we see all around us. But sadly, far too often these Christian voices are nowhere to be found.
Often it is a non-Christian who will come along and say what Christians should have been saying, but have not. This is yet another scandal of a compromised and lifeless church which is in many ways digging its own grave. But to have non-believers doing the job instead of the believer is not necessarily a bad thing.
Even Jesus himself made this quite clear. In the gospels we read about how Jesus rebuked the Pharisees who wanted his disciples to remain quiet. Jesus told them: “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” One way or another God’s word must get through.
Indeed, we have examples of this in the Old Testament. Remember Balaam’s ass (Numbers 22)? If God’s own people will not get the job done, then God is quite able to use other people, or even other things, to get it done. But of course his preference is for us to be in sync with his purposes, so that we can be his spokespersons.
But if the church would rather sleep, or chase after trivial pursuits, then God will raise up others to speak his words. There were two very clear examples of this which occurred just this week. Both involved non-believers saying what believers should have been saying all along.
The first has to do with the horrendous court decision in the UK in which a Christian couple was barred from fostering children because they refused to bow to the tyrannical homosexual agenda. I wrote up this despicable ruling here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2011/03/01/judges-now-ban-christianity/
While a handful of Christians seem to have been speaking out about this, it seems that for the most part the church there has been silent. Even worse, some apostate Christians would have even applauded this decision. Thus it was utterly refreshing to see what David Starkey has said about all this.
Here is how one news report covers the story: “Last week’s ruling of the High Court in London banning pro-family Christian couples from fostering children has even self-described ‘gay’ atheists concerned. The justices ruled that it was appropriate to ban a Christian couple from fostering children since they refused to present homosexual sex as positive.
“David Starkey a renowned historian and UK media personality was discussing the ruling on BBC television yesterday. Starkey said: ‘I am gay and I am atheist but I have profound doubts about this case. It seems to me that what we are doing is producing a tyrannous new morality that is every bit as oppressive as the old.’
“Starkey described growing up being homosexual with what he believes was harassment from police. He said however that, ‘I am very, very concerned that a new sort of liberal morality is coming in, which as I said, is as intolerant, is as oppressive, is as intrusive into family life.’
“Starkey also raised the case of the British couple who owned a small hotel and were fined since they did not wish to accommodate a homosexual couple. Starkey said he was opposed to the fine suggesting rather: ‘The way to do that is not to ban them, not to fine them. It is for them simply to put up what seems to me to be a quite proper notice in a small privately run hotel which says we are Christians and this is what we believe. Otherwise, we are as I said, we are producing a new tyranny,’ he added.”
Wow, not bad from a homosexual and an atheist. The second case involves the leader of France reminding his people of the country’s Christian heritage. President Nicolas Sarkozy has just made headlines by pointing out the obvious. Here is how a news item carried the story:
“Speaking before a crowd of dignitaries in the ancient town of Puy-en-Velay, a key location in the history of French religious devotion, Sarkozy vigorously defended the importance of the Christian contribution to the cultural foundations of France. ‘Christianity has left to us a magnificent heritage. I am the president of a secular republic, but I can say this because it is the truth. I am not proselytizing,’ he told the group.
“‘In ascending soon the steps that lead to the choir of the Cathedral of Puy-en-Velay, as millions of people have done before me for almost ten centuries, I am very moved and I have been, like them, taken by the smiling majesty of this immense relic of stone coming to meet me,’ said Sarkozy, referring to Puy-en-Velay’s most important architectural monument.
“He went on to add that ‘Chartres, Amiens, Reims, Strasbourg, Paris, none of these towns would be today what it is in the eyes of French and the eyes of the rest of the world without these cathedrals on which the faithful and tourists always converge.’
“‘This heritage, my dear compatriots, obligates us. This heritage is an opportunity, but it is first of all a duty. We are obligated by this heritage. It obligates us because not only do we have the duty to transmit it to the generations that succeed us, but we must assume it, this heritage, without a complex and without false modesty,’ said Sarkozy, calling it the ‘living testimony of the support of Christianity to our civilization.’
“‘To not concern ourselves with our heritage, is to betray the history of our country. Protecting our heritage is protecting the heritage of France, it is to defend the most tangible signs of our identity. I often recall Levi-Strauss: “Identity is not a pathology”.’ he added.”
Once again, not bad coming from a secularist. But I am greatly heartened that finally some people are beginning to speak out about the destruction of the West and its values. I wish that these brave words would motivate a few more believers to start doing the same.
For too long most Christians have sat passively by, too scared or too unconcerned to speak about the assaults on faith and freedom occurring all around them. Like sheep heading to their own slaughter, they have for the most part remained silent, unconcerned, and asleep at the wheel.
So we can be thankful for these two stones speaking out so loudly and so clearly. May many more do so, and in the process, put to shame those believers who should have been speaking out all along, but have not.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/gay-atheist-warns-of-tyrannous-new-liberal-morality-oppressing-christians?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=eb647c1fdd-LifeSiteNews_com_Intl_Headlines03_04_2011&utm_medium=email
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/french-president-nicolas-sarkozy-defends-countrys-magnificent-heritage-of-c?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=eb647c1fdd-LifeSiteNews_com_Intl_Headlines03_04_2011&utm_medium=email
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