Some Christians, particularly those who hold to traditional understandings of the teachings of the faith, feel that they are encountering a subtle—or sometimes not so subtle—intolerance of their beliefs. This is especially true when it comes to matters that have to do with sexual behaviors and mores.
If your religious teachings hold that sexual intimacy is only to be expressed between a man and woman, within the confines of a marriage relationship, it’s pretty obvious from a casual perusal of virtually any TV show, movie, popular magazine, zany morning radio show, etc., that you are hopelessly old-fashioned when it comes to the opinions of those who are most influential in shaping opinions, these days.
I suppose some people might be inclined to say, “Oh well, too bad, you uptight religious nuts!” And then have a good hearty laugh.
And, frankly, to be laughed at or mocked because of your religious convictions could properly be considered an honor. And it could certainly fall into the category of: That’s the least I could do for God. (Though, to be really honest, most of us don’t like it very much.)
But my concern is this: Will this relatively harmless mockery and—at this point—fairly subtle intolerance of these traditional beliefs become an increasingly overt intolerance of traditional beliefs?
Several people have cautioned me, in recent months, “Hey Dan, your biblical teaching is going to be labeled illegal ‘hate speech’ at some point in the future.”
Is that true? I don’t know. I have had a notoriously difficult time trying to predict the future. But it’s going to be interesting to see if those who have in the past claimed to speak on behalf of a robust tolerance for other viewpoints will now be willing to extend tolerance to the increasingly un-cool and unfashionably religious among us.
Dan Marler
Oak Lawn, IL
www.VisitUsOnline.org
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