How Have Marriage Battles Changed?     5/23/2008
By Staff

One of the key figures of the 20th Century's civil rights battles passed away. Mildred Loving, whose marriage to her husband, Richard, was a violation of Virginia's laws prohibiting interracial marriage died May 2nd. Mildred was black, Richard white. Their marriage led to the famous legal case Loving v. Virginia which found laws against interracial marriage unconstitutional. The case was decided on June 12, 1967.

Modern battles over marriage have moved well beyond unchangeable characteristics like race. Now those battles focus on the choices in sexual relationships which people make. The homosexual activist movement would like Americans to believe that homosexuality is an unchangeable characteristic just like race. They are abusing the memory of people like Mildred Loving who has said that she never wanted to be a hero, she just wanted to get married but was not allowed to do so because she was born black. Radical homosexual activists want you to believe that they, too, are "born that way." The reality is otherwise.

Every person freed from his homosexuality is a testimony of that reality. Ministries such as PFOX and Exodus International and others regularly help people trapped in the homosexual lifestyle find freedom in Jesus Christ. Jesus has come to forgive and to redeem men and women from their sins and the sinful choices that they make, including homosexuality, racism, adultery - and even the "little white lies" that tempt us so often.

Tragically, the homosexual activists reject this reality. They insist against all the evidence that homosexuals are "born that way." And, they think nothing of discriminating against people who disagree. For example, recently Concerned Women for America (CWA) has been defending a modern hero of civil rights, Crystal Dixon. Dixon was fired from her job simply because she pointed out the reality that sexual choices are not civil rights.

In a letter to the editor written as a private citizen, Dixon noted, "As a black woman who happens to be an alumnus of the University of Toledo's Graduate School, an employee and business owner, I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are 'civil rights victims.' Here's why. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a black woman. I am genetically and biologically a black woman and very pleased to be so as my Creator intended. Daily, thousands of homosexuals make a life decision to leave the gay lifestyle evidenced by the growing population of PFOX (Parents and Friends of ExGays and Gays) and Exodus International just to name a few." Dixon, like Mildred Loving, simply wants a little justice. She was born black just as you and I are born into whatever ethnic group or ancestry we enjoy. But no one is "born" a homosexual. Homosexuality is a temptation and, as with any temptation, to pursue it to its end is ultimately a decision to engage in activities that are unpleasing to God, harmful to the individuals and can be detrimental to others.

Here, then, is the difference between the marriage battles now and those of 40 years ago. Then, marriage was fought over unchangeable, immutable characteristics - race. Today, marriage is fought over freely-made sexual choices like homosexuality and polygamy. Clearly, marriage among people of different ethnic backgrounds is a reasonable and moral decision. Marriage among people of the same sex is to abolish the meaning and purpose of marriage altogether.

As we approach the anniversary of the Loving decision, it is good to remember the key to the case: race is unchangeable and immutable. Homosexuality is something that can change - and freedom is found from this sin as from all others in Jesus Christ.

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