The Barna Group Reports on Same-Sex Marriage

I came upon these statistics published by the well established and respected Barna Group, regarding the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage. I found these statistics not so surprising  I must admit and it pretty much supports what appears to be the moral attitudes of the U.S. citizenry and fundamental churchianity.

Support for and against the ruling

Barna learned that 49% of Americans support last week’s Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage in all 50-states of the union. Some 43% of Americans appear to disagree with the high court’s ruling while 7% were undecided. Undecided? Really. I respect the supporters of the ruling more than I do the undecided’s. If we are not able to take a position on such a fundamental social and moral issue; an issue that essentially has redefined the definition of marriage in this nation. So as far as I’m concerned, 56% of Americans support the supreme court’s ruling on this pivotal issue. If you are undecided on this issue, for all intents and purposes you are in favor of the ruling as far as I’m concerned.

Consequently, 37% of Americans surveyed believe that this ruling will have positive impact on the nation. Really? I wonder how anyone can come to such a conclusion. When we consider that the creator of the universe, who defined marriage as being a union between a man and a woman refers to gay and lesbian relations as an abomination, there should be no doubt in any one’s mind that standing in such overt opposition to the commandments of Yahovah is a terribly risking thing for anyone to do. But then, when one considers that most humans, though they claim to know Him, really don’t know Him. If you don’t know Him, regardless if one has a cognitive understanding of Yahovah, you can’t be expected to know of His ways now can you?  So what is general knowledge to those who truly know Him (and we’ll get into just who those persons might be in a future posting) would obviously be foolishness to those who don’t know Him. We all know the position that the Apostle Shaul (aka Paul) took on the issue of non-believers and the things of Yahovah:

Now the natural man does not receive the things from the Spirit of God – to him they are nonsense! Moreover, he is unable to grasp them, because they are evaluated through the Spirit.
(1Co 2:14 CJB)

So it is with this issue. Many people have no concept of what is right or wrong and thus their worldview is based solely upon a set of self-determined and self-or even society created ideals of what’s write or wrong. This ultimately becomes a prescription that will lead to demise of a nation and peoples.

But let me say, before I continue on with this, that I don’t care what any man chooses to do with another consenting man or woman with another consenting woman; that’s their business. It bothers me, as I imagine it does many of you reading this post, when these individuals begin to impose their lifestyle choices upon our society and threaten me and my affiliations when and if I choose to disagree with their position and lifestyle.  It used to be that the gay and lesbian fight for rights would be likened to that of blacks during the civil rights movement. In fact, many of the laws throughout this nation regarding marriage, were designed to prevent blacks from marrying whites. The difference between the civil rights struggle in the middle to late 20th century and the gay and lesbian agenda of the late 20th to early 21st century is that blacks were being discriminated against and persecuted for the color of their skin and their heritage. We (I am black by the way) had no say in our race as we were born into that race. The gay and lesbian agenda, however, is focused upon a chosen lifestyle which at the heart of the matter stands in opposition to the natural setting of human life on this planet. Oh, many gays or lesbians may sharply contend that they have no say as to their attraction and love of the same sex. I will not get into a debate about that in this forum, only to say that regardless, they have a say in living and operating in that chosen lifestyle–whether they choose to believe it or not. Case in point: how many of us men at some point in our lives were attracted to let’s say a beautiful woman, but for whatever reason–be it that we were married at the time, dating a special someone, or committed to Yahovah, we would never act upon that attraction. The attraction might have remained or even remains to this day, but we know that we are bound by Torah and God’s way of life for mankind and we simply don’t cross that line of pursuing that outside relationship. It would be wrong and it would fly contrary to the life we’ve been called to live as demonstrated and required by our Master. So the comparison between the civil rights movement and the gay and lesbian agenda and so-called struggle in this country is a null and void one.

But continuing on with the Barna survey results, the other half of the equation is that 40% of Americans do believe that the supreme court ruling will have a negative impact on our society. These individuals, although they may or may not be believers in Messiah, inherently realize that there are consequences to be paid by an individual and a nation that rejects the ways of Yah. All we need to do to realize and understand this basic concept is to read the blessings and curses outline in Deuteronomy 28 and 29 respectively.  What somewhat disappoints me, however, is why do we not have a greater understanding of this concept in our nation–what about the other 23% of Americans? I guess we can safely conclude that these are like those 7% commenting on agreement versus disagreement on the ruling, are undecided on whether or not there stands to be negative repercussions for this nation because of this ruling.

Here’s a very sad commentary on the moral fiber of our nation: 52% of Americans surveyed believe that same-sex marriage is morally right. Oh dear Lord. 52 % friends. This suggests that over half of this country’s population believes that it’s a good thing for a man to marry another man and a woman to marry another woman. Again, this goes back to the thinking that the ways of Yahovah are complete foolishness to the natural man. I mean, what can you say to this apart from, Father, please be merciful to us as a nation. We must continue the fight to preach and teach the Word of God to the nation in hopes that this nation will turn from their iniquity and perverse worldview before it’s too late. By the way, 43% believe that same-sex marriage is morally wrong. I guess that’s some consolation.

Related to the 43% of Americans who say that same-sex marriage is morally wrong, when Barna sampled evangelicals (defined by Barna as those Christians who are committed to Jesus Christ; their Faith is very important to them; they believe they will go to heaven when they die; they are known to witness about their Faith to non-Christians; they believe hasatan exists; they believe salvation is achieved via grace alone and I would add, they reject the keeping of Torah by Christians; and they believe the Bible to be accurate in every conceivable regard), 94% were not in favor of the high court’s ruling. I actually was somewhat surprised by this percentage. I don’t know why I thought that this number would be lower, thinking that there may have been a moral drop in the make-up of evangelicals over the last several years. Why? Because, when you reject Torah–which most evangelicals clearly do–you have no true moral compass upon which to base your beliefs and worldview upon. Somehow, these evangelicals understand that despite their rejection of Torah, they still must support Torah principles. That my friends is somewhat encouraging and something upon which to base future evangelizing efforts upon.  Indeed, most evangelicals are supportive of Torah whether they believe it or not–we have something in common with our wayward cousins.

And rounding this survey off, Barna found that 19% of Americans surveyed feel that religious institutions and clergy should be required to perform same-sex marriages. Now, this is the gist of the problem I say associated with this landmark ruling and I applaud Barna for taking the pulse of America on this particular question. In this country, we Torah fans (stealing from Michael Rood) can not force our convictions upon the peoples of this nation. Thus, if the high court chooses to give Yahovah the finger by passing the same-sex law in this country, making it legal for same-sex marriage in all 50-states, then we are pretty much stuck with that ruling. However, what should give everyone a pause for concern is, will this ruling affect our religious freedoms. In other words, will our leaders in the Faith be forced to perform same-sex marriage regardless their moral and Biblically based convictions?  Worse, if members of our Faith are led by the Ruach to speak out or teach against same-sex marriage, in whatever format or form or convention, will they–will we–be condemned or subject to fines, loss of jobs, loss of income, loss of freedom and even imprisonment. Friends, this is the primary crux of this same-sex debate. Is this ruling the start of the demise of religious freedom in this country? We better get ready. The storm clouds are gathering and we may not have much more time before we find ourselves gather to worship and study the Bible in hiding as in the time of the apostles. It’s not a matter of if friends, but a matter of when. Interestingly enough, the study ended with a very astute observation by 6 out of 10 Americans: that this ruling will ultimately restrict our religious freedoms in this country over the next 5-years. Let us think hard about this and let us prepare and pray and fast and study while it is stay day. Shalom Saints.

Rod Thomas–Disciple of Yahoshua Messiah; Coroner Investigator; Messianic Content Creator; Wishful Musician