The United States Supreme Court is scheduled to announce its decision this month on whether same sex marriage is a Constitutional right.  The Federal government admitted during its presentation in favor of same sex marriage that if the Court affirms it, churches and Christian non-profit organizations that refuse to yield may well become targets of government action. 

Spell that loss of tax exempt status.  Pastors I know are openly anticipating that lawsuits against them and their churches could follow if they refuse to perform a same sex marriage.  Not one with whom I have talked will back down, however.

If the Court legalizes same sex marriage across the country, there is a group called the American Unity Fund that is ready with a plan to carry it to the next step.  The American Unity Fund is a super-PAC supported and run by two billionaire hedge fund managers, Paul Singer and Tom Gill.  Their intention is to blanket the country at local, state, and Federal levels with anti-discrimination laws.  These laws would give the government power to police the speech and behavior of citizens.

The actual technique to enforce these laws has not been determined, but most probably it would take the form of “human rights” commissions, or what amounts to hate tribunals.  Canada already has such courts.  Canada legalized same sex marriage in 2005.  Part of the new law, Bill C-38, redefined parenting.  The term “natural parent” is now gone, replaced by the gender neutral label, “Legal parent.” 

In Canada it is now considered discriminatory to promote the idea that a child should be raised by biological married parents.  A child only has legal parents.  It only takes one complaint—a complaint that could be lodged against you by your neighbor or your colleague at work or by a clerk at your grocery store—and you can be hauled before the tribunal, saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, fined, forced to take sensitivity training, and subjected to police seizure of your property.   This makes the attacks against Christian bakers, photographers, and service providers that are already happening in the United States, seem like child’s play.

Add one more piece.  One week after the Fairfax County (VA) School Board voted overwhelmingly in mid-May to add gender identity to the list of conditions one may not discriminate against, the Fairfax County Public Schools released a report announcing that beginning in 2016 the district’s middle and high schools will teach gender fluidity.  This is the idea that there are many genders, and a person may be part of one and part of another, not just male or female.  And one’s gender can change over time.

Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council says of this new step, “The larger picture is that this is really an attack on nature itself – the created order…Human beings are created male and female. But the current transgender ideology goes way beyond that. They’re telling us you can be both genders, you can be no gender, you can be a gender that you make up for yourself. And we’re supposed to affirm all of it.”  Parents will find it very hard to opt out their kids from the mandatory health classes because the propaganda will be cleverly interwoven into the entire curriculum.  Sprigg adds, “It’s only going to create more confusion in the minds of young people who don’t need any further confusion about sexual identity.”

Which brings us to something writer David French said in a speech on April 21.  “The battle is not against gay rights and religious liberty—although religious liberty is certainly at stake—but between the sexual revolution and Christianity itself.  This means that Christians are faced not with allegedly “minor” or “insignificant” theological changes to gain leftist acceptance, but with wholesale changes to the historical doctrines of the church.”  Let me put it another way.  We are fighting not a battle against homosexuals or the LGBT agenda.  We are embroiled in a revolt by our culture against the order established by God himself at the Creation. 

French makes the point that homosexuality and gender identity is only part of this conflict.  Abortion is another part.  A woman’s demand for abortion is nothing short of a denial of the natural affection and love God places in a mother for her child.  Abortion is a suicide attempt by the human race.  Also included is the bludgeoning marriage receives in the divorce court.  And don’t overlook the worldwide abuse of children in the sex trades and the scourge of sex trafficking.  But before all of this there lies the individual’s lust for unlimited sexual expression—adultery and fornication—unfettered by any law or restriction.  It’s important to see the conflict in its larger context so that we do not get sidetracked or fixated on the homosexual issue alone.

To sum up, we are experiencing in our time a breathtaking rebellion against God such as the world has not seen in 2000 years--stubborn humans refusing to submit to the Creator and to his good plan for sex, human identity, the centrality of the family, and the proper role of men and women in marriage.  Those who would shake their fists at God are swiftly gaining the upper hand.  When Ireland voted two weeks ago by 62 percent to legalize same sex marriage, the victors gleefully celebrated and partied till dawn.  Strike up the bands!  We are marching off to battle!

But it is not a good idea.  Psalm 2 describes this massive revolt in cosmic terms.  “Why are the nations in an uproar, and the peoples devising a vain thing?  The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his Anointed.  ‘Let us tear their fetters apart, and cast away their cords from us!’” But God responds.  “He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them.  Then he will speak to them in his anger and terrify them in his fury.” (v 1-5)  The Bible warns sadly of the wrath to come, a terrible day of accounting.  The revolt will perish.

The righteous must stand firm and not tremble, no matter what evils arise.  Trust in God and his righteousness.  Next: How we may defeat them!

Dr. Rick Perrin is a minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and Chairman of the Board of World Reformed Fellowship..  He writes a weekly blog called ReTHINK which may be accessed at www.rethinkingnews.wordpress.com. He may be contacted directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..