Note From Editor: This month U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas introduced a bill in Congress (H.R. 254) which if passed would extend an already dangerous policy of federal "hate crime" law to include "sexual orientation, gender [and] disability." Certain types of speech could be declared hate speech. A pastor, talk-show host, conference speaker or commentator could be charged with a federal crime for expressing their personal or religious believes about homosexuality. Currently in Canada, a pastor or broadcaster that speaks against homosexuality, even from a Scriptural basis, can be sentenced to six months in jail.
 
 
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Brace yourself for what is coming. You'll have no choice. Accept homosexuality or face the courts. Homosexual activists want to normalize their lifestyle in society. They want to force their lifestyle on you. They want your children to see the "gay way" as a choice equal with heterosexual relationships. They want school curriculum to teach this to your children. Don't be fooled. They don't want tolerance. They want full endorsement-or else!
 
If you do not fully endorse gay marriage and homosexual behavior, at the very least, you will be told to keep your opinion to yourself. If you actively resist the agenda you will be labeled a homophobic, small-minded, discriminatory hate-monger.
 
I've been writing thoughtfully and compassionately about homosexual behavior for many years. Responses to my letters in The Boston Globe and the San Francisco Examiner reveal a disturbing and consistent pattern. One reader (from <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />San Francisco) referred to my beliefs as "deviant and small minded." He also told me (in the spirit of tolerance, of course) to keep my viewpoint to myself. Then he characterized my view as "a despicable message of hate and divisiveness." This response is incredibly predictable. There is no thoughtful analysis of my view. Only name calling. More importantly, unless my viewpoint fully approves the homosexual agenda, I am told to keep my mouth shut.
 
Ironically, I have received more hate-mail on this subject than any other.  Only occasionally do I receive thoughtful responses. Many letters I receive come unsigned and full of venom. I have been called a hate-monger, a homophobic religious bigot, and other names inappropriate for publication. One point that is made repeatedly is that my view should be kept to myself and other "small minded people like me." By implication, only one viewpoint about homosexuality should be heard---the affirming one. All others are unworthy. This is intriguing. Those who chose the homosexual lifestyle use to repeatedly say, "All we want is to be left alone to live the way we desire." Obviously, this is not all they want.
 
A manipulative tool used by homosexual activists (on an undiscerning public) has been a comparison of their agenda with civil rights causes of the past. As the gay marriage debate escalates, we will repeatedly hear comparisons between inter-racial marriage and gay marriage. This is a false comparison. But they will continue to insist that you buy the line that homosexuals are an oppressed minority group. It is a dangerous error (and an offense to real minorities) to compare homosexuals with previous groups that fought for civil rights.
 
Wrongful discrimination (in actual civil rights cases) injures people for what they are by nature not for their sexual preferences.  If we start protecting lifestyles from discrimination, we will find ourselves on a slippery slope. Others will line up and demand special protection and provision for their lifestyles. Although we have laws to protect human rights for all people, activist homosexuals want special laws-to protect their way of life.
 
Simply put, homosexuality is behavior people choose. Two men could live together and deeply care for each other without being homosexual. Homosexuality only becomes part of the equation when they commit sexual acts with each other.  As a result, "homosexual" refers not to one's disposition or desire but rather to one's behavior. Although it is possible that some struggle with sinful sexual desire due to biological inclination or past abuse, these factors should not be used to legitimize their behavior nor define their person. Biological and circumstantial factors can make people vulnerable to many forms of behavior.
 
On one level, I cannot withdraw into silence on this issue if I care about society. The endorsement of homosexuality involves significant shifts in societal understanding of marriage, family and sex. History has repeatedly held that any form of support or promotion of homosexual behavior is bad for society. Such behavior has been considered immoral by every civilized group of people throughout human history.
 
On another level, love compels me to speak because I do not believe that those who practice homosexual behavior genuinely accept that they were meant to live this way. I am not fooled by the voices of radical homosexual activists. If they were honest, they would admit that their efforts are merely a cover up for their frustration, resentment and despair. And deep down inside, they know that changes in legislation or public opinion will not remove the agony they feel.
 
The homosexual lifestyle robs people of both dignity and freedom. Court decisions and illegal marriage licenses will not give these people the dignity or freedom they desire. By turning to the God who created them, they can find the true forgiveness and release from guilt that we all need.
 
Steven W. Cornell
Senior pastor,
Millersville Bible Church
58 West Frederick Street
Millersville, Pa. 17551
717-872-4260
s.cornell@millersvillebiblechurch.org