R. Albert Mohler Jr.'s Blog, page 395

George and Barbara Witness a Wedding—When a Private Act Sends a Public Message

Former President George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara attended a wedding a few days ago, and it made national news. According to The Washington Post, the elder Bushes attended the wedding of Bonnie Clement and Helen Thorgalsen, held at Kennebunkport, Maine. The two lesbians, co-owners of a general store in neighboring Kennebunk, were married in an outdoor celebration attended by family and friends. The 41st President of the United States was present, along with the former First Lady. Bonnie Clement told The Washington Post, “Who would be best to acknowledge the importance of our wedding as our friends and as the former leader of the free world? When they agreed to do so we just felt that it was the next acknowledgement of being ‘real and normal.’”

As it turns out, President Bush did not merely attend the wedding. He also served as an official witness, signing the legal documents for the ceremony and the Maine wedding license. Under a photograph with the former president the couple added the words, “Getting our marriage license witnessed!”

No one should be surprised by the opening line of the report in The Washington Post: “Another prominent Republican has come out in support of same-sex marriage—or, at least, in support of one particular same-sex marriage.” Similarly, the “Daily Intelligencer” column at New York Magazine declared that George and Barbara Bush are apparently in favor of same-sex marriage “since they not only attended a lesbian couple’s wedding on Saturday, but served as witnesses as well.”

The news coverage of the Bushes’ attendance at the same-sex wedding points to a reality that must be understood—and fast. Attendance at a wedding is not a neutral act. The history and context of the wedding ceremony identify all those present as agreeing to the rightness of the marriage and acting as witnesses to the exchange of vows. This is why the venerable language of The Book of Common Prayer, used in the overwhelming majority of Christian weddings, calls upon anyone with knowledge that the proposed union is invalid to speak, “or forever hold his peace.” Anyone remaining silent at that point is affirming the rightness and validity of the marriage, and all who are present are counted as both witnesses and those who celebrate the union.

This issue arose two years ago when controversy erupted over comments that Houston megachurch pastor Joel Osteen made on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight. In response to a question from Morgan, Osteen said that he would not officiate at a same-sex wedding. Morgan then pressed him by asking if Osteen would attend a same-sex wedding. Osteen replied:

Well, I haven’t been to many weddings lately to begin with and I’m talking about somebody that was, you know, dear to us. I’m not going to disrespect somebody that’s dear to us and say, you know what, you’re not good enough for us or something like that. That’s the way that I would see it. Now, I’m not going to just run off and go attend, you know, certain marriages just to make a statement because that’s not who I am and that’s not what I stand for and, again, I don’t look down on those people.

That is incoherence, and even Piers Morgan saw through it. It is incoherent to say that you cannot officiate at a same-sex wedding because you believe it to be wrong, and then turn around and say that you would attend a same-sex wedding and join in the celebration. Beyond incoherence, it is ministerial malpractice and bearing false witness.

We must certainly understand the relational challenges and the predicaments that this poses for Christians who do not believe that same-sex marriage is right in the sight of God. Those who would affirm same-sex marriage and the normalization of homosexuality must defy the clear teachings of Scripture. Christians cannot affirm what the Bible defines as sin, and yet that is what is demanded of us in our current cultural context. One of the hardest issues for every Christian will be the responsibility to relate to everyone we know with both love and truth.

But it is truth that protects love from dissolving into mere sentimentality. Likewise, it is love that prevents truth from being reduced to impersonal abstractions. At some point or another, almost all of us will be put into the situation Piers Morgan asked Joel Osteen to consider. At some point, we will either attend a same-sex ceremony, or we will not. Declining to attend will come with undeniable relational consequences, but so would attending. As one believer who struggles with same-sex attraction recently told me, “It does not help when fellow Christians send mixed signals.” We cannot allow our love to lapse into sentimentality, even as we love those who plan to enter into what we know is not and cannot be marriage. Note carefully that Bonnie Clement spoke of the Bushes’ presence at the wedding as a powerful affirmation that the union was “real and normal.”

A spokesman for President and Mrs. Bush said that the former first couple attended the wedding as “private citizens attending a private ceremony for two friends.” There are two problems with this account. First, if the Bushes were simply private citizens, there would have been no news story. After all, Bonnie Clement told the newspaper that President Bush had been invited as a friend “and as the former leader of the free world.” Needless to say, being identified as “former leader of the free world” is not a private matter. Second, a wedding is not actually a private affair. That marriage license was not filed with friends, but with a legal authority. And that legal document, available for public view as a public record, lists George H. W. Bush as an official witness to the union. The Washington Post had every good reason to declare that the former president had “come out in support of same-sex marriage.”

But, this is not just about the Bushes. The same predicament remains, even if we are not the former leader of the free world. To be present at a wedding is to affirm that it is right, whether you sign a legal document or not.

No one said this was going to be easy, and this is hardly the end of the predicaments and perplexities that will challenge Christians who stand on biblical teaching in the days ahead. This is one question, however, that Christians had better think through fast. A wedding invitation might soon be headed your way.

I am always glad to hear from readers. Write me at mail@albertmohler.com. Follow regular updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AlbertMohler.

The Reliable Source, “George H. W. Bush Is Witness at Same-Sex Marriage in Maine,” The Washington Post, Wednesday, September 25, 2013. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/r...

Margaret Hartmann, “George H. W. Bush Served as Witness at a Lesbian Wedding,” New York Magazine, Wednesday, September 25, 2013. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/...

R. Albert Mohler, Jr., “Would You Attend a Same-Sex Wedding?,” Tuesday, October 18, 2011. http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/10/1...

R. Albert Mohler, Jr., “The Osteen Moment—Your Own Moment Will Come Soon Enough,” Thursday, January 27, 2011. http://www.albertmohler.com/2011/01/2...

The Briefing 10-01-13

1) Obamacare one of the most significant and morally complicated pieces of legislation in history

Birth Control and a Boss’s Religious Views, New York Times (Editorial)

2) World leaders cannot be understood without understanding their worldview

Who Is Ali Khamenei? Foreign Affairs (Akbar Ganji)

3) Ivy League’s incredible power to influence culture’s worldview

Back to School, The Weekly Standard (David Gelernter)

4) Virginia is ground-zero for legislative effort to nationalize same-sex marr iage

Lawyers Olson and Boies want Virginia as same-sex marriage test case, The Washington Post (Robert Barnes)

5) First time in world history: 2050 will see more adults age 60 plus than kids age 15 and under

Global Study: World Not Ready for Aging Population, Associated Press (Kristen Gelineau)

The Cultural Revolution on the College Campus—Why it Matters to You

Several  years ago, sociologist Peter Berger argued that secularization has been most pervasive in two social locations—Western Europe and the American college and university campus. The campuses of elite educational institutions are among the most thoroughly secularized places on our planet. This should concern anyone with an interest in higher education, of course. But it really matters to every American—or at least it should.

A wonderful and concise explanation of why this is so was provided in the pages of The Weekly Standard this week by David Gelernter, a professor of computer science at Yale University. In the course of making a proposal for the “reclamation” of higher education, Professor Gelernter wrote this very important paragraph:

Since the cultural revolution culminating in the 1970s, the left has run nearly all of the nation’s most influential, prestigious universities. Their alumni, in turn, run American culture—the broadcast networks, newspapers, the legal and many other professions, Hollywood, book publishing, and, most important, the massive, insensate, crush-everything-in-your-path mega-glacier known as the U.S. federal bureaucracy—and even more important than that, the education establishment charged with indoctrinating our children from kindergarten up.

That’s why it matters to you. And that’s how the future direction of the culture is set by the current culture of the elite colleges and universities. Many parents are unaware of how this happens. Their children may or may not attend one of the most prestigious colleges in the nation. But in almost any other institution they will study under professors who want to be associated with (or eventually hired by) one of those elite institutions. Exceptions to this pattern are rare, and the influence of these elite schools extends throughout the culture at large.

David Gelernter is in a position to know. After all, he is a professor at Yale. As he makes clear, what happens at Yale doesn’t stay at Yale.

David Genernter, “Back to School: A Reclamation Project for Higher Ed.,” The Weekly Standard, September 30, 2013. http://www.weeklystandard.com/article...

I am always glad to hear from readers. Write me at mail@albertmohler.com. Follow regular updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AlbertMohler.

The Cultural Revolution on the College Campus — Why it Matters to You

Several  years ago, sociologist Peter Berger argued that secularization has been most pervasive in two social locations — Western Europe and the American college and university campus. The campuses of elite educational institutions are among the most thoroughly secularized places on our planet. This should concern anyone with an interest in higher education, of course, but it really matters to every American — or at least it should.

A wonderful and concise explanation of why this is so was provided in the pages of The Weekly Standard this week by David Gelernter, a professor of computer science at Yale University. In the course of making a proposal for the “reclamation” of higher education, Professor Gelernter wrote this very important paragraph:

“Since the cultural revolution culminating in the 1970s, the left has run nearly all of the nation’s most influential, prestigious universities. Their alumni, in turn, run American culture — the broadcast networks, newspapers, the legal and many other professions, Hollywood, book publishing, and, most important, the massive, insensate, crush-everything-in-your-path mega-glacier known as the U.S. federal bureaucracy — and even more important than that, the education establishment charged with indoctrinating our children from kindergarten up.”

That’s why it matters to you, and that’s how the future direction of the culture is set by the current culture of the elite colleges and universities. Many parents are unaware of how this happens. Their children may or may not attend one of the most prestigious colleges in the nation, but they will study under professors in almost any other institution who want to be associated with (or eventually hired by) one of those elite institutions. Exceptions to this pattern are rare, and the influence of these elite school extends throughout the culture at large.

David Gelernter is in a position to know. After all, he is a professor at Yale. As he makes clear, what happens at Yale doesn’t stay at Yale.

David Genernter, “Back to School: A Reclamation Project for Higher Ed.,” The Weekly Standard, September 30, 2013. http://www.weeklystandard.com/article...

The Aspirant Nation: A Conversation with Conrad Black

Conrad Black has been a member of the British House of Lords since 2001. He is the author of critically acclaimed biographies of Maurice Duplessis, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Richard Nixon. Lord Black is the former head of the world’s third-largest newspaper empire, which published The Daily Telegraph and the Chicago Sun Times, among many others. He is a columnist at Canada's National Post, a publication which he founded, as well as a columnist at the National Review Online. His latest work is “Flight of the Eagle: The Grand Strategies That Brought America from Colonial Dependence to World Leadership.”

The Briefing 09-30-13

1) The pseudo-event: Government functioning by threatening not to function

Government Heads Toward Shutdown, Wall Street Journal (Janet Hook and Kristina Peterson)

House pushes U.S. to the edge of a shutdown, Washington Post (Lori Montgomery, Paul Kane and Rosalind S. Helderman)

2) New Jersey judge rules denial of same-sex marriage unconstitutional. Is your state next?

New Jersey Judge Rules State Must Allow Gay Marriage, New York Times (Kate Zernike and Marc Santora)

Toward Marriage Equality in New Jersey, New York Times (Editorial)

3) Exxon Mobil extends benefits to same-sex spouses of employees

Exxon to Extend Health Care to Married Same-Sex Couples, New York Times (Tara Siegel Bernard)

4) Right to free speech doesn’t prevent your employer from firing you

Professor’s tweet was crass, but his right, USA Today (Ken Paulson)

Journalism prof placed on leave after anti-NRA tweet, Associated Press (Roxana Hegeman)

5) School suspends boys for playing with toy guns – in their own yard

Has zero tolerance gone too far?, WAVY (Andy Fox)

The Briefing 09-27-13

1) Real crisis isn’t looming fed shutdown – real crisis is unwillingness to deal with economic problems

House G.O.P. Leaders List Conditions for Raising Debt Ceiling, New York Times (Jonathan Weisman and Ashley Parker)

Boehner Weighs GOP Options on Spending Bill as Shutdown Looms, Wall Street Journal (Kristina Peterson and Janet Hook)

As government shutdown looms, Americans brace for possible disruption, disappointment, Washington Post (Lisa Rein)

2) New research reveals “nones” really are secular after all

College students divided on God, spirituality, USA Today (Bob Smietana)

3) Pakistan earthquake death toll over 300

Pakistan quake death toll rises to 356, CNN (Sophia Saifi)

4) To attend is to celebrate: George H.W. Bush official witness at same-sex wedding

George H.W. Bush is witness at same-sex marriage in Maine, Washington Post (Roxanne Roberts and Amy Argetsinger)

5) Brain scans show that porn and drugs have similar brain-altering effects

Brain scans of porn addicts: what’s wrong with this picture?, Guardian (Norman Doidge)

Hijacking the Brain — How Pornography Works, AlbertMohler.com

Pornography and the male brain: What’s really going on?, The Albert Mohler Program

 

The Briefing 09-26-13

1) Leader’s must be clear. President Obama has not been. 

President Obama at the United Nations, New York Times (Editorial)

For Obama, an Evolving Doctrine on Foreign Policy, New York Times (David Sanger)

2) Obama increasingly restrained by liberals

Resurgent Liberals Put Heat on Obama, Wall Street Journal (Neil King Jr.)

3) Hypocrisy in Congress: Congressional members exempting themselves from Obamacare

The Hypocrisy Of Congress’s Gold-Plated Health Care, Wall Street Journal (William Bennett and Christopher Beach)

4) Government ran out of money yesterday. Did they stop spending? 

Happy Deficit Day, Uncle Sam, Wall Street Journal (James R. Harrigan and Antony Davies)

5) People in San Francisco love 3 things: political activism, environmentalism, and dogs

San Francisco Debates a Proposal to Limit Where Dogs Can Roam, New York Times (Rick Lyman)

America’s Coming Demographic Disaster, Thinking in Public (Jonathan V. Last and Dr. Mohler)

6) Dutch euthanasia deaths doubled in ten years

Number of Dutch killed by euthanasia rises by 13 percent, The Telegraph (Bruno Waterfield)

The right to die will put us on a very slippery slope, Financial Times (Christopher Caldwell)

7) Marijuana is “next great American industry”

Marijuana the “next great American industry,” Denver Post (John Ingold)

8) Average prostitute enters sex industry between ages of 12-14

Special Courts for Human Trafficking and Prostitution Are Planned in New York, New York Times (William K. Rashbaum

9) Abstinence before marriage incomprehensible to larger culture

Losing Her Religion, New York Times (Carlene Bauer)

The Briefing 09-25-13

1) Obama may get a low grade in Syria, but he deserves a much higher grade in Iran

America, Russia and Syria, The Economist

2) As an atheist, what do you say to the grieving? Not much. 

Grieving as an atheist: a surprising dilemma, The Guardian (Tiffany White)

3) 30 million visits/month: The tragic rise of “live” internet pornography

Intimacy on the Web, With a Crowd, New York Times (Matt Richtel)

4) Penthouse declares bankruptcy

Penthouse Publisher FriendFinder Files for Bankruptcy Protection, Wall Street Journal (Marie Beaudette)

5) When society looks like Maxim magazine, no one needs to buy subscriptions

What Happened to the Maxim Man? New York Times (Matt Haber)

6) Worldview revealing News Brief in New York Times 

Man Gets 25 Years in Plot Against Lobbying Group, New York Times (Associated Press)

 

The Briefing 09-24-13

1) Female theology professor at major Christian college comes out as transgender man 

Transgender theology professor asked to leave California Christian college after coming out, Religion News Service (Sarah Pulliam Bailey)

Discrimination or doctrine at California Christian college?, World Magazine

2) For the first time, more Americans 50 and older are divorced than widowed

Divorce After 50 Grows More Common, New York Times (Sam Roberts)

3) Family meals have overwhelmingly positive impact on kids. But what if it’s over in 8 minutes? 

Does It Count as a Family Dinner If It’s Over in Eight Minutes? Wall Street Journal (Diana Kapp)