Are You Judging Me, Dolly Parton?

This falls into the "Surprise: Another entertainer endorses homosexuality!" category. However, since Drudge put it out there, and since Dolly Parton is a popular fixture in the "Bible Belt," I feel the need to address her remarks.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not surprised. There are many, in the south and all over the rest of America, who are--at least seemingly--much more spiritually mature than Ms. Parton who have taken the wide path when it comes to homosexuality.Though the 68-year-old Ms. Parton uses a tactic that is common these days when it comes to defending sin, hers is not an approach that I've often dealt with.

In a Q&A with billboard.com, Parton was asked about her theme-park Dollywood being a large draw for the LGBT community as well as church groups, and why she has such a large gay following. On Dollywood, she replied, "But as far as the Christians, if people want to pass judgment, they're already sinning."

On her large following in the homosexual community Parton added, "They know that I completely love and accept them, as I do all people. I've struggled enough in my life to be appreciated and understood. I've had to go against all kinds of people through the years just to be myself. I think everybody should be allowed to be who they are, and to love who they love. I don't think we should be judgmental."

Clearly Ms. Parton has a problem with those who wish to "judge" when it comes to homosexuality. Have you noticed how often people who want to excuse immorality--whether their own, or others--use a "Don't judge me!" attitude? Like I said, this is a common retort when it comes to those who wish to excuse the sin of homosexuality, abortion, divorce, or any other sin that has become widely accepted in our culture. This is especially true of sins in the sexual realm.

Of course, the reference is to Jesus' words at the beginning of Matthew chapter 7, where He declares "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." If one ignores the rest of Scripture, including the rest of Matthew 7, then one might come to the same conclusion as Ms. Parton and those like her. As most with even a cursory knowledge of Scripture are aware, a verse or two out of context can be taken to mean almost anything.

Jesus was not instructing us against making moral judgments. Just a few verses past "Do not judge," Jesus warns us to "Watch out for false prophets" and instructs us that we will recognize them by their "fruit." And, of course, when someone concludes that another is "sinning" by "passing judgment," they are themselves making a moral judgment.

Copyright 2014, Trevor Grant Thomas
At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.
Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World
tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com

The Devil and the Democrat Party

The surest way to corrupt a culture is to have those who lead us—spiritually, politically, and economically—along with those who entertain and inform us, not simply to abandon, but to wage war on the truth. Just as “We hold these truths to be self-evident” forever changed the fate of humans the world over, as history clearly demonstrates, an abandonment of the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” will reap equally great, albeit destructive, consequences for humanity.

Multiple illustrations of such consequences are contained in the Old Testament. Scripture reveals that wicked Kings often led God’s people astray, with disastrous consequences. From Ahab to Zedekiah, time and again we see accounts where the kings of both Israel and Judah “did evil in the sight of the Lord” and “caused Israel to sin.” In a covenant relationship with God, and entrusted with His written law, such disobedience often yielded harsh judgments.

Though the covenant relationship God had with Israel was unique in the annals of history, as author, pastor, and theologian John Piper points out, “the Bible portrays God as sovereign over the nations and ruling them for his purposes. This includes ethnic peoples as well as the political states that emerge around them: ‘Kingship belongs to the Lᴏʀᴅ, and he rules over the nations’ (Psalms 22:28).”

Thus, in addition to judgments against Israel, Scripture also reveals harsh consequences for Gentile nations (or city states) as a result of sin as well. Sodom, Gomorrah, Egypt, Ammon, Moab, Tyre, Sidon and others all suffered under God’s wrath as the result of the sin of their leaders and their people.

To be sure, Americans have seen immoral leaders of every stripe and flavor. However, in the history of our nation, only the pro-slavery Democrats of the 19^th century rival the immorality practiced and preached by today’s liberals that lead the modern Democrat Party.

Support of everything from abortion, to gender perversions, homosexuality, pornography, a redefinition of marriage, wicked climate policies, and an enslaving welfare state have made today’s Democrat Party little more than a modern-day Mephistopheles. Instead of magic to lure their Faustian targets, today’s Democrats employ, among other things, bribery, class warfare, fear, greed, lust, propaganda, scientism, vengeance, and violence.

The evidence is, of course, all around us. This is especially the case given that we are in the midst of another election season. Take note of the political ads run by Democrats. How long before we get to meet the next Julia or Pajama Boy? How many times will we get to hear about, if elected, what Democrats will do in order to give out more goodies from the government? Where will the next fraudulent statistics in the “War on Women” originate?

How much “linguistic limbo” will Democrats perform in order blandly to describe their embracing of the “right” to kill children in the womb? (Or they simply video their abortions and tell us that everything is “super great!”) What deceit will liberals use to explain or embrace the fiscal and medical disaster that is Obamacare? How many times will we get to hear the phrase “marriage equality” (knowing full well that the liberal position on marriage also “discriminates”)?

“Truth makes the Devil blush,” wrote English historian Thomas Fuller. As liberalism has created a culture that is nearly bereft of shame, today’s Democrats rarely blush. This usually happens only when someone becomes a political liability and not because some proper moral standard has been violated. 

Of course, as many continue to point out, the consequences of the wide variety of immorality proffered by today’s Democrat Party go well beyond the political realm. Individuals, families, businesses, churches, and the like are suffering. In other words, America is suffering.

As Al Mohler recently put it, “We are in the midst of a massive revolution in morality.” He adds that, “sexual morality is at the center of this revolution.” Mohler refers directly to a “crossroads” and alludes to an unavoidable showdown that is looming within the evangelical church. However, I believe this is the case for our nation in general.

Deep lines in the sand are being drawn. There are going to be few places to hide. Americans are going to have to make distinct choices about the morality by which our government is going to operate. Such choices may make many unpopular with their family and their neighbors. However, must we end up with the kind of suffering we saw during the Civil War before our lesson is learned?

Many, including President Lincoln himself, saw the American Civil War as God’s judgment on our nation for indulging in the sin of slavery. America contained about 4 million slaves at the height of slavery in the U.S.

Since Roe v. Wade, well over 50 million American babies have been killed in the womb. As Alveda King, MLK’s niece put it recently, “Every aborted baby is like a slave in the womb of his or her mother. The mother decides his or her fate.”

In addition, over 40 percent of children in America are born out of wedlock. Record numbers of Americans are cohabitating. The family is disintegrating and liberals celebrate! With many seemingly content to nurse on the ample bosoms of Big Government, record numbers of Americans are not working and are on the welfare rolls. After all, who needs mom and dad or a job when you have Obama’s Stash?

With millions of Americans addicted to pornography, it is little wonder that so many lack the ability to have healthy intimate relationships that lead to healthy families. With the hook-up culture rampant, sexually transmitted diseases are also at record levels.

What’s more, in the name of their green god, deceptive climate policies are destroying wealth and harming the poor. In spite of the apathy most Americans have shown this false religion, Democrats, perhaps searching for some political traction in this increasingly hostile political climate (pun intended) in which they find themselves, continue to push their climate agenda.

Instead of direct judgment, some might deem the harsh suffering many of us are experiencing (whether a direct result of our sin or the sin of others) simply as the “natural” consequences of violating “Natural Law.” Whatever one chooses to call it, and whatever awaits us, one thing is clear: the past and current policies of the Democrat Party have aided and abetted the evil forces who seek to destroy mankind.

(See a version of this at American Thinker.)

Copyright 2014, Trevor Grant Thomas

At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.
Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World
tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com