Dear Abby Heresy

And there it was, staring straight at me from the morning paper. The Dear Abby column. Today's letter was heart-breaking. But Abby's answer was so outrageous I almost choked on my tea!

The letter from the 15-year old teen girl said that she is bisexual and suicidal. She described hurting herself regularly. Dear Abby's response? She started with, "As you already know, your sexual orientation isn't something you chose. It is something you were born with ..." Can you imagine a more insane thing to say to a teen-ager? It's such a lie!

I have to confess to having been a regular reader of both Dear Abby and Ann Landers. Advice columns intrigue me. (I think they interest most people for some bizarre reason.) And something unusual has happened to my love affair with these two columns. As I've grown older and matured, I've realized how irrelevant they are. I've come to discern how lame their advice is. Occasionally, I see them dispensing advice that is not only lame and wrong, but downright dangerous. Such is the case with today's advice.

Abby referred this poor teen-age girl to several organizations that will help her embrace her perverted sexuality. The child is believing lies about herself, about God, and about sexuality. Abby did nothing to put her on the right path. Instead, she told her it's normal (i.e., the lie isn't a lie at all) and that she can embrace it.

Now as a Christian, I've considered that perhaps my differences with Dear Abby and Dear Ann Landers (sister columnists) stemmed from the fact that they're both Jewish. But I don't think that's the case here. You see, no one who reads the Torah or the Old Testament or any other part of the Bible couldn't be this deluded.

There is no way that homosexuality, bisexuality, trans-sexuality or other perversions of godly sexuality are endorsed in the Torah (the Jewish holy book ... which also serves as the Christian Old Testament). Simply put, it's immoral, ungodly, sinful, evil and just plain wrong.

I'd like to tell this teen-ager that there is hope. She doesn't have to feel this way. She is being deceived by her feelings and defined by her temptations. I'd like to show her the way out of this mess. Unfortunately, I don't have the influence. It has been given to Dear Abby ... who has squandered it by dispensing heresy.

Dear Abby is written by Jeanne Phillips, the daughter of Pauline Phillips, who took over the column under the name Abigail Van Buren. The Bible says that those who mislead others will be harshly judged. I suspect Ms. Phillips is going to have a very shocking encounter with our Maker one of these days. But the rest of us won't be shocked. We can see it coming in today's column!

Woe to Ms. Jeanne Phillips for intentionally misleading teen-agers by encouraging them to not only believe but embrace lies. Let us pray for the readers of her column who are being fed a pack of lies.

Sexual Boundaries

There is a lot of sex in our culture. It appears that sex sells. It is political. It can be woven into the fabric of just about any topic. I sometimes wonder if God intended sex to be so versatile. Even more, I wonder how the human race can be so naive about sexuality. To be sure, God intended us to be sexual. But what exactly does that mean?

We seem to have an ongoing argument in my country about what I call the “normalization” of a lifestyle that we describe as gay or lesbian. Specifically, people pursue same-sex relationships --- and expect everyone else to approve of them. Okay, maybe that’s a little strong. Perhaps some of them would settle for better tolerance.

California has been in the news for the past year or two as it struggles with the issue of same-sex marriages. Other states are wrestling with the issue as well. Now that Barack Obama has invited Rick Warren to give the invocation prayer at his inauguration, the gays and lesbians (and their supporters) are up in arms. They call it a travesty that their beloved (nearly divine) Obama would cozy up to a man who states in no uncertain terms that same-sex activity is wrong.

Don’t get me wrong; I love gays and lesbians. I truly do. I’ve been very close with some of them. However, I am not ignorant as to the facts. People of God, who call themselves Christians because they believe Jesus is the Messiah and submit to His ways of living, must know the difference.

The Bible is replete with clear terms that would be hard to mistake about what God says. Let’s look at the 18th chapter of Leviticus, for an early example of the clear boundaries God intended to draw on our sexuality. In my Bible, it falls under a section called “Unlawful Sexual Relations.”

In Leviticus 18, God told Moses to instruct God’s people regarding their sexuality as follows:

· No sexual relations with any close relative.
· No sexual relations with parents or step-parents. (Lev. 18:8)
· No sexual relations with siblings or step-siblings. (Lev. 18.9, 11)
· No sexual relations with grandchildren or grandparents. (Lev. 18.10)
· No sexual relations with aunts or uncles. (Lev. 18:12, 13, 14)
· No sexual relations with in-laws. (Lev. 18:15, 16)
· No sexual relations with step-children. (Lev. 18:17)
· No sexual relations during a woman’s period. (Lev. 18:19)
· No sexual relations with another man’s wife. (Lev. 18:20)
· No sexual relations with someone of the same sex. (Lev. 18:22)
· No sexual relations with an animal. (Lev. 18:23)

Now God used some pretty strong language for these things. He called them perversions, detestable, wickedness, dishonorable and defiling. It is interesting that our society will readily agree that most of these expressions of our sexuality are wrong. But they will argue --- in the face of God Himself --- that sex with someone of the same sex is not. How does one sustain such an argument … with the God of the universe?

Let us not be deceived here. God didn’t differentiate these things. He said they are all detestable --- and they are all prohibited. He concluded by saying that if anyone engages in any of these behaviors, God’s people (e.g. Christians) should have nothing to do with them. (Lev. 18:29). So if you try to justify the behaviors and force me or anyone else to accept them as normal --- I am to have nothing further to do with you.

I guess I wouldn’t be any more acceptable to the gay and lesbian agenda to offer prayer at the Obama inauguration than Rick Warren is. It’s because I agree with Pastor Warren.

No matter how any of us feels about our sexuality, God drew some clear boundaries. The only question is whether or not we will prove that we are His people by respecting those boundaries.

Perplexing Times

It is one of those weeks, when I drive through town, walk through airports, read my newspaper on airplanes, listen to news talk radio --- and remain in a chronic state of perplexion. What can I say? I am perplexed about what I see and hear.

Has the world gone crazy? Or is it just me - not getting it? The stories I see and the things I hear are troubling to say the least. I usually end up with questions that seem to have no answers. You see, there is much about today's world that I don't understand.

Yesterday, for example, I was reading about abortion. It's been a problem in America for many years now (since Roe vs. Wade made it legal). I know about the different views of the pro-life and pro-choice lobbyists, etc. What I did not know (until yesterday) is that nearly 50% of all African-American pregnancies in America are terminated through abortion! I did not know that African-American woman are five times as likely to abort their babies as white women. Talk about racial inequality! What's up with this statistic? Could someone in the black community, with its proud heritage, help me understand this?

Then there is the gay issue. I opened my newspaper last week (October 11th) and was greeted to a full color insert celebrating something called "National Coming Out Day." It's apparently a national holiday to recognize gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gendered individuals. What is it that we're supposed to recognize them for. As a born-again, Bible thumping Christian, I don't agree with them. I believe they are deceived and misguided. But I respect their right to be wrong. Hate crimes against them are surely wrong, and their civil rights should be the same as anyone else. But celebrate them? I don't get that? I was saddened to see Citibank had a full-page advertisement on the back of this insert too. Apparently they see themselves as a gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gendered employer. (I wonder if they ask about that on their employment applications!)

Later in the week, I was reading where the U.S. military branches are now spending about $360 million per year to replace about 12,000 men and women who violate their "don't ask, don't tell" policy and "come out." So let me grasp this. We're at war, two wars. I guess I hadn't thought much about it when it's been talked about in the past. A don't ask, don't tell policy seemed to hack off the GLBT crowd, but I assumed they were a minority and it was a mostly political issue. It turns out it's a financial issue. Fiscal impact is being felt by all Americans. It might even be a national security issue.

For some reason, our military believes that fighter pilots, doctors, soldiers, mechanics and other military jobs cannot be performed effectively by people who are not straight heterosexual. So they spend $360 million a year getting rid of them. (Of course, this says nothing of the money they spent to recruit and train them in the first place.) The real irony is that once thrown out of the military, these same individuals will practice their professions quite adequately. Go figure.

So my final perplexity this week (so far) is the presidential election. I listen to talk radio on the AM dial. One of the shows I was listening to today was taking calls from listeners. This guy named Preston calls in and starts to explain why Barack Obama needs to be our next president. In a nutshell, Preston thought it was only right, since we've had 43 white presidents. The talk show host ask him repeatedly what it is that he wants Barack Obama to accomplish as president. The only answer Preston ever offered was to just be president. Apparently, at least for some African-Americans, it does not matter how good or effective our next president is --- as long as he's black.

Preston went on to explain that any whites that don't vote for Obama are racist and just participate in the hundreds of years of oppression the blacks have suffered in America. I wanted to call in right then and ask him if he's ever been to Africa. He might get a better sense of what oppression looks like. I think I've blogged before about the blacks in America versus the blacks in Africa. Simply put, I know of know country where Africans are native where the standard of living or the freedoms come anywhere close to that enjoyed by most African-Americans in the U.S. (So enough of this black oppression crap!)

Like I said, it's been a perplexing week. And I haven't even talked about the nationalization of the western world's banking systems!