Monday, July 1, 2013

#566 (7/1) "The False Narrative of Gay Marriage - It is Not Inevitable"

REMINDER: Check out this week's "Truth That Transforms" broadcast (Cen. FL -  Mon., 7 pm, ch. 52.2, and at www.truthinaction.org) which this week discusses the role Christians are to play in bringing “Spiritual Sight” to society. Don’t miss it!

URGENT PRAYERS/PETITIONS:

American Pastor Saeed Held Prisoner in Iran - June 5th Update - "Saeed's Wife Uses UN Speech to 'Plant Gospel'," by George Thomas, CBN News Sr. Reporter, June 05, 2013, http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/June/Saeeds-Wife-Uses-UN-Speech-to-Plant-Gospel/?cpid=EU_CBNNEWSPM_2013_156"Prayers from Prison: American Pastor Held in Iran Releases Letter," May 22, 2013; http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/Prayerwatch?pw=1458"...Abedini has been held at the brutal prison for 238 days, enduring long stints in solitary confinement, and, according to his supporters, beatings and torture at the hands of his jailers and fellow inmates. For months, he has been suffering from serious injuries, including internal bleeding from beatings with no proper medical attention, according to his family and attorneys."(Sources: Fox News, Assemblies of God website) Please PRAY:1) For the imprisoned Pastor Abedini, and for those Iranians who tend to his needs in prison to treat him more humanely. 2) For his family in Boise, Idaho. and their efforts to involve the U.S. State Department in securing Pastor Abedini’s release. And 3) For the impact of his witness upon believers and non-believers, in America and across the world. And if you have not yet, join the over 600,000 worldwide who have signed the petition asking for his release at www.SaveSaeed.org

UPDATE: June 21 - "Pastor Saeed in Good Spirits as Threats Increase," CBNNews.com;  http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/June/Pastor-Saeed-in-Good-Spirits-as-Threats-Increase/The family of imprisoned American Pastor Saeed Abedini visited him in Iran's Evin Prison this week. They say he was in good spirits...According to the American Center for Law and Justice, the 33-year-old pastor told his family his health appears to have improved. The ACLJ also said that since Iran's presidential election last week, Abedini reported Iranian prison guards have threatened to move him to a more remote prison. Such a move would make it nearly impossible for his family to visit him.

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"The False Narrative of Gay Marriage - It Is Not Inevitable"; By: Eric Metaxas|Breakpoint.org: June 25, 2013  http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/breakpoint-commentaries-archive/entry/13/22605?spMailingID=6422140&spUserID=MTMyMjM2ODE5OQS2&spJobID=76661876&spReportId=NzY2NjE4NzYS1

In his book, “The Black Swan,” Nicholas Nassim Taleb discussed what he calls the “narrative fallacy.” This refers to our “limited ability” to look at a sequence of facts “without weaving an explanation into them.” While this tendency helps us make sense of the world around us, it can and often does mislead us. It creates a mistaken impression that we understand things better than we really do. And, it often causes us to view the facts in ways that are consistent with the narrative we ourselves have created.
Case in point: the recent news – or in this case, news blackout – out of Illinois. A few weeks ago the state legislature took up the issue of same-sex marriage. The outcome was regarded as a foregone conclusion. Illinois is President Obama’s home state, and his party enjoys commanding majorities in both houses. Same-sex marriage enjoyed the support of both the governor and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The president had even personally lobbied state legislators. Given all that, the vote in favor of gay “marriage” in Illinois was inevitable, right?
Well, no one bothered to tell the state’s African-American pastors. As Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage wrote in the National Review, the pastors “worked hard to reach and convince African-American legislators to stand tall for the truth of marriage.” The pastors demanded that legislators acknowledge that marriage “is an institution created by God to bring men and women together for the benefit of children that can only be created through the union of men and women.” Their efforts paid off: Illinois did not succumb to the “inevitable.” They defeated “gay-marriage advocates and their supporters in the legislature in the bluest of blue states.”
If you haven’t heard about this important victory, you’re not alone. Until we here at BreakPoint read Brown’s piece, we hadn’t heard about it, either. Not that the lack of media attention is any surprise, because on this issue I'm sorry to say, the mainstream media are cheerleaders and activists, not reporters.
That’s not only my opinion: a study by the Pew Research Center found that in the run-up to the Supreme Court’s rulings on same-sex “marriage,” “the news media coverage provided a strong sense of momentum towards legalizing same-sex marriage.” How strong? It said that “Stories with more statements supporting same-sex marriage outweighed those with more statements opposing it by … roughly 5-to-1.” That kind of coverage bears no resemblance to actual public opinion on the subject. Instead, it presents same-sex marriage as an idea whose time has come and those who insist otherwise as relics from a less-enlightened age.
What happened in Illinois cuts across the grain of this worldview and the narrative it produces. Instead of considering the possibility that the story they are telling is not true, the tellers of this story in the media completely ignore facts that contradict the narrative. That doesn’t make their story any more true. There is nothing “inevitable” about the redefinition of marriage. While we face an uphill battle, what else is new?
In this battle, the Church matters. All of the Church. What happened in Illinois was the result of African American pastors taking the lead. In other states it may require the leadership of Latino ministers. What matters is that all of God’s people “stand tall for the truth of marriage.” ...
FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION

BP-Takeaction_62513The False Narrative of Gay Marriage: It Is Not Inevitable - Next Steps
The open debate about marriage has been smothered and many are afraid to speak out. Can you stand up to the crowd, especially when our society is caught up in what Eric calls the "Inevitability Narrative" of the media? Perhaps you are asking: 

1) Have I bought into the narrative? 
2) Where and to whom can I speak out?
3) What can I say that will matter? How can I start?

We at BreakPoint encourage you to stand strong and prepare for the debate. Eric does a good job on the "inevitability" argument here. Consider this: The Roe-v-Wade decision in 1973 did not stop the abortion debate. In many ways, it opened it up on a grand scale. Whatever the courts decide about marriage, we are headed for a long-lasting, passionate debate. As to the question of where to speak, speak everywhere, especially to the church. That is what happened in Illinois. 

What can you talk about? Amazingly, many in our generation do not understand either the historical or the biblical foundations for marriage. You can help here. Read some of the great resources we have listed below. We highly recommend the book: What is Marriage?: Man and Woman: A Defense. Take every opportunity to educate. Realize that understanding the true nature of marriage not only affects marriage "redefinition," but also impacts divorce, cohabitation and all of the sexual mores in our society. It is a complete package. Where to begin? Why not use this conversation starter: "Did you hear the amazing thing that happened when Illinois tried to pass a Same Sex Marriage bill a few weeks ago?..."

BOOKS:
What is Marriage?: Man and Woman: A Defense
Sherif Girgis, Ryan Anderson, Robert George | Encounter Books | December 2012
The Black Swan
Nassim Nicholas Taleb | Random House | 2007
ARTICLES:
On Winning the Marriage Debate; Eric Teetsel | The Witherspoon Institute | June 24, 2013; http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2013/06/10426/
Justice Kennedy's 40,000 Children; Robert Oscar Lopez | Public Discourse, The Witherspoon Institute | May 2, 2013; http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2013/05/10034/
WEBSITES:
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