Rex M Rogers - Discerning What Is Best

Discerning What Is Best
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Details: Written by Rex M. Rogers; Published: 31 March 2021

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For a while now, I’ve been saying sexual progressivism and Christian belief are on collision course, that sexual progressivism is the point of the spear for social justice or woke ideology demanding its views of morality be embraced, no exceptions for religious conscience allowed.

Christian colleges and universities stand at the nexus of this movement, and they are in trouble. It’s happening.

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Details: Written by Rex M. Rogers; Published: 31 March 2021

I may as well weigh-in now. I recently got a C-19 vaccine...of my own free will.

That said, I could not be more thoroughly opposed to the idea of a "vaccine passport." Such a doc or app, suddenly required for access for all manner of activities, would restrict Americans' everyday liberties. The potential for abuse of such a mechanism boggles the mind.

And while we're at it, the idea the federal government would create a tax that must be paid by those who opt not to get a vaccine is another abuse of power.

C-19 is a virulent virus. The pandemic should be, and it has been, taken seriously, and thankfully progress is being made. But C-19 is one health issue among many that threatens life. It should not be viewed or used--and it has been--as some ultimate big stick that trumps all other considerations, especially fundamental civil liberties in a free society.

Details: Written by Rex M. Rogers; Published: 27 March 2021

I don’t comprehend how celebrities think. Probably because I’ve never been one, am not one, am not the son of one, and never will be one. But still, not all for sure but a bunch of ‘em that make social media “news,” what are they thinking?

1—Work to be famous then whine about lack of privacy.

2—Wear provocative clothing and post selfies then say how “hurt” they are by online comments saying they’re beautiful etc., calling this sexual harassment.

(I recognize there are indeed vicious forms of harassment online re sexuality, race, religion, politics, you name it, and in no way excuse it.)

3—Assume anti-gun or gun control positions then travel with armed security.

4—Call for open borders but live in fenced and gated communities.

5—Virtue signal their global warming bona fides and ostensibly low carbon footprints then fly globally in private jets.

6—Like to convey they stand on moral high ground yet criticize the morality of the “wrong” party while remaining silent about moral failures in their party.

7—Often reject Christianity, saying it is prejudiced toward the latest sexual permutation or racial justice then oddly wink while supporting various global religions that marginalize, persecute, and prosecute women, minorities, et al.

8—Bluster they will move to Canada if the wrong person is elected but, alas, they never do.

Culture and various self-appointed celebrity influencers say things like, “We should all be entitled to live without judgment,” meaning no one should question anyone else’s behavioral choices. But really? What if the choice is murder, child abuse, terrorism?

Labeling behavior sin, that God calls sin, is not harsh, judgmental, or hateful. Actually and ironically, this truth-telling offers a “second chance,” because there is a remedy for sin. There is forgiveness, reconciliation, transformation. So speaking the truth in love with gentleness and respect is not hate, it’s hope.

Details: Written by Rex M. Rogers; Published: 25 March 2021

Ipso facto. It’s a Latin phrase meaning an inevitable result, by the fact itself, or that a specific outcome is a direct consequence or effect of some belief or action. It’s what we’ve come to in American culture.

If you hold to traditional or biblical moral standards, you now can expect ipso facto to be called intolerant, bigot, prejudiced, discriminatory, hater, or depending upon the issue, homophobic, transphobic, or sexist.

This is now par for the course, especially given Year 2020’s wholesale rush to throw off moral codes, law and order, and common sense.

Consider March Madness. According to the author of a recent piece on Oral Roberts University’s run in March Madness, the school’s views regarding homosexuality are “wildly out of line with modern society and the basic values of human decency…prejudiced teachings and moral regressiveness…toxic notions of fundamentalism that fetishize chastity, abstinence…their anti-LGBTQ+ stance, which is nothing short of discriminatory… decrees banning homosexual conduct, stating that marriage is only between a man and a woman, and specifically banning male students from wearing makeup.” For this the author argues ORU, which “is a hotbed of institutional transphobia, homophobia with regressive, sexist policies (with) no way to separate their men’s basketball team from the dangers of their religious dogma,” should be banned from the NCAA March Madness tournament.

The author provides no actual examples of the phobias, i.e. hateful acts toward someone, that she decries, and she does not acknowledge that ORU forbids not simply homosexual activity but all sexual activity between non-married individuals. Apparently, she is unfamiliar with the First Amendment, because her values are more righteous than thou and thus trumps religious liberty. In her view it is acceptable for her to be prejudiced against Christian teaching and to deny Christians their religious freedom to hold to matters of moral conscience.

As I’ve noted before, sexual progressivism is becoming the point of the spear for the Left, a way of advancing its agenda while overpowering religious or specifically Christian traditional views of morality.

This is now becoming a growing concern for Christian colleges and universities, so ORU is not alone, and will not likely be alone going forward. In fact, along with churches, Christian colleges and universities stand in the way of the Left’s march toward acceptance of its sexually progressive, brook-no-debate orthodoxy. And it’s happening to states and other entities without overt religious commitments but with concerns about fairness in athletics. Consider North Carolina.

Whatever one thinks about ORU, the university’s articulation of its views about LGBTQ are in line with traditional Christian views of morality, and for that matter, what most of the general public considered moral until only recently.

What is called the Gay Rights and later the LGBT Movement is not something routed in antiquity but one developed just in the past 70 years, for example, some highlights:

1969 – The Stonewall Riots, NYC. Stonewall Inn a clandestine, gay club in Greenwich Village.

1973 – Homosexuality no longer considered mental illness by American Psychiatric Association.

1978 – Rainbow Flag first used in a Gay Pride parade.

1979 – first March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.

1980 – American Psychiatric Association added gender identity disorder to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM).

1980s-1990s – AIDS.

1993 – “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” via B Clinton, allowing Gays to serve in military. Law repealed under Obama 2011.

2013 – DSM changes gender identity disorder to gender dysphoria.

2015 – Boy Scouts lift ban on transgender.

2015 – Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 US 644 (2015), same sex marriage allowed by SCOTUS.

2016 – Military allows transgender soldiers to serve openly but curtailed by President Trump 2018.

2021 – President Biden via Executive Order lifts ban on most transgender individuals serving in the military.

From a Christian point of view, the Word of God does not change and has not changed. What God considered sin or immorality before the 1970s He still does today. And it should be noted the Scripture does not say homosexual immorality is somehow a worse form of sin than heterosexual immorality.

God as Creator gave us a perfect design that met humanity’s needs. But in 2021, American culture largely embraced the tenets of the Left’s sexual progressivism in the name of personal freedom. If “consenting adults” are involved one may do what one wants and no one should judge. Any one or any organization that disagrees with this view is ipso facto a bigot and a hater, to be denied, suppressed, removed, ruined, stamped out as unworthy.

Sad to say, but this ipso facto equation is going to get worse.

Details: Written by Rex M. Rogers; Published: 21 March 2021

Christianity is often reduced to “Don’ts,” restrictions, perceived prudish limitations. And it’s true, there are “Thou shalt nots,” but that list is actually rather short. These principles are given to protect us from harm and evil, so we ignore them at our own peril.

But Christianity is also about so much more, about goodness, order, blessing, peace. Christian faith in the Sovereign God provides meaning (w/o God you can’t determine who you are or why you exist) and truth (w/o objective truth you don’t know right from wrong, fact from fiction), defines reality (w/o the Creator you live in a world of your own making governed by unreason, irrationality, insanity), and produces grace (w/o God there is only power not mercy) and hope (w/o God, the future is an abyss).

The intellectual decadence of our age claims Christianity is irrelevant. But this is delusion for Christianity is in the 21^st Century temporally applicable and eternally significant…and you are eternally significant, made in the image of God. Know Christ, live out a Christian worldview, experience light and life, and promise.

Details: Written by Rex M. Rogers; Published: 20 March 2021

I understand that I do not understand:

--How this country seems to have fallen off a cliff called common sense and rationality in just 12 months.

--How anyone can argue with a straight face that abortion is about “women’s healthcare” and that boys/men “identifying” as girls/women and playing girls/women’s sports does no harm to girls/women.

--Why people trash American ideals when their freedom, opportunity, education, general well-being provided by these ideals enables them to do what they’re doing.

--How what once was considered sexual exploitation of women is now featured on the Grammy Awards and defended as “women exploring the power of their bodies.”

--How hating “whiteness” is somehow “anti-racist” rather than just another form of racism.

--Why people seemingly fear the coronavirus above all other threats, including now when the initial goals for prevention, cure, flattening the curve, etc. are being met.

--Why disagreement is now so often equated ipso facto with offensiveness, i.e., if I disagree with your view somehow this means I disrespect you?

--Who died and made Big Tech King of the world.