Knitting a Conundrum

In the book of 2 Thessalonians, St. Paul writes:

Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false, so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2:11,12 RSV

This sort of fits our era in very clear ways. A case in post is the erosion of religious rights. Cardinal O'Malley made some good points:

Boston's Cardinal Archbishop, Sean O'Malley has compared Canada's eroding legal protections for religious freedom with the case of a Lexington Massachusetts father who was denied by a school his right to opt his son out of state-prescribed sex-education classes.

Cardinal O'Malley compares the Massachusetts case to the situation in Canada. He wrote, "In Canada . . . They are already seeing the many different ways that people's religious rights are being trampled because of the redefinition of marriage."

In 2005, David Parker of Lexington filed suit when his son's school notified him that he would not be informed when the class would include homosexual or "transgender" information. On February 23, Federal District Judge Mark L. Wolf ruled that children in elementary school must remain in "diversity" classes that include explicit information on homosexual acts.

O'Malley maintains a popular weblog on which he wrote Friday that the Court had overstepped the bounds of the law. O'Malley points out that Massachusetts law allows parents to be notified and have the option of removing children from classes when "human sexual education or human sexuality issues" are presented.

The Cardinal comments that the most disturbing aspect of the case "is that it underscores how, by redefining marriage in Massachusetts, people's religious rights are going to be challenged by the state." Source

The times of cultural Christianity, where one behaved in Christian ways because that was just the way things were done is certainly passing. Choose then, what path you will follow. Don't expect the choice to be painless, nor expect society to make it for you.

Jesus knew that there would be dark and hard days for his followers, especially as time stretched out. "When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Luke 18:8b, RSV) he once asked, knowing that walking his path is a choice, and before he returned, that choice would be undercut by the dark one.

I make no claims for these being the final end times, but the end times are always with us, since Jesus returned to Heaven, and the choice is always there. Follow him or follow the world. The world is certainly ratcheting up the price we pay, but for we who know Jesus is Lord, the price should be worth it.

If you find the world growing dark, be a candle in the night.

Labels: discipleship