It’s hard to miss the fact we are living in days more markedly anti-Christian. One only needs to read yesterday’s Washington Post article, “Karen Pence’s Worldview Horrifies Me,” by Alyssa Rosenberg. Rosenberg, an opinion writer for the Post, is horrorstruck at the possibility someone could actually submit to a statement of values that people like me, and most of the people I know, hold regarding the sanctity of life and the definition of marriage. (I am assuming we still hold to these, though I fear an increasing number in the church are more interested in finding cultural acceptance than challenging unholy behaviors).
That she disagrees doesn’t worry me. What is disturbing is the level of language that is used. She (and a major national newspaper) want the world to know how horrible and how disgusting it is that there are people out there who actually believe our bodies are not our own, that they belong to God. She is aghast that relics of a former age (her words) still believe it is not our place to change our sexual identities and determine our sexual behaviors. She is apparently sickened at the fact there are still people who promote sexual purity, abstinence before marriage, and life-long fidelity in marriage. She, and those like her, want us to know they are appalled that some still hold on to biblical values and submit to biblical authority.
The horror of it all! Why can’t everyone be a progressive like them? Those who are not should be ashamed!
Here’s what I wonder. Why do so few point out the irony that what is today labeled “progressive” is actually so regressive? Couldn’t we make a case that contemporary culture is actually devolving rather than evolving? That we have substituted sexual propriety for sexual impropriety hasn’t moved us forward. We are in a steep descent going terribly backwards. Even magazines like The Atlantic (yes The Atlantic), acknowledge that the sexual revolution has come at an awful price. Note the recent article, “The Sex Recession.” While we are more tolerant of sex in just about every permutation—we have abandoned all restraint, and now we are tasting its awful fruit. Men are choosing pornography as a way of distancing themselves from relationships. Women are increasingly giving up on men. The sexual urge is something we hope technology—not people—might satisfy.
As I noted in a December post, we have betrayed the gift God has given us and denuded it of all meaning. Unconditional love and covenant vows have been replaced with porn and sex. We are creating new definitions and playing God with our sexual choices. We are shoving his authority aside and replacing it with our own. Our personal worldview and our power are what matters–not God’s. Articles like the Post’s cause me to wonder how long it will be before some will seek to force their authority on everyone else. Excuse me Ms. Rosenberg, but isn’t this what we should find horrifying?
Progressed? Are you kidding? Katherine Kersten captures where our current “advancement” has taken us: “Contemporary America is confused and conflicted at the deepest level about sex, sexuality, and social norms that should guide men’s and women’s intimate relations” (“False Feminism”, First Things, February 2019). She concludes, “Instead of liberating men and women, the sexual revolution and feminism—in lethal combination—have bred anger and distrust that are driving them apart.”
Some would like to suggest our society has matured into one where the new normal is one where people engage in casual sex with no intention of emotional connection. Is this something better than the past? Is “casual” even an honest word? Casual is a lie. Sex outside of an emotional and spiritual connection, along with a marital covenant, leads to emptiness, shame, guilt, and for most (those who are honest) deep regret. We have regressed into disrespecting people, treating one another as objects to satisfy our own gratification. But this pales in comparison to the most horrifying thing—we have disdained our Creator.
Isn’t this the most important headline?
Karen Redman
Thank you.