In the not too distant future, the citizens of New Sodom and her suburbs may well have cause to celebrate the attainment of their most cherished goal - a U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the law against sodomy in Texas. Of course, if that happens, every other state in the Union will declare their own anti-sodomy laws void as well in deference to that ruling.

Pro-family leaders have filed amicus briefs in favor of upholding the Texas statute; and some Christians are doing what all Christians ought to be doing - praying that God will intervene in this situation and that the sodomy statute will be rightly upheld. Certainly, the decision has not yet been handed down, and Christians should be praying fervently that the Great Lawgiver of the Universe will intervene in spite of His people's failure in the past to defend His law themselves in this matter. Surely He will uphold His law in the long term, but we must pray that He will give us more time to repent of our ways and properly defend it in our day.

Should perversion and sexual anarchy carry the day in the Lawrence v. Texas case, the foundation for that win will have been laid by Christian and pro-family leaders. The sad truth is that for three decades, most Christians have bought the lie that the civil government has no business punishing perverted sexual acts. In fact, most Christians do not even believe that it is right to "discriminate" against sodomites in employment or housing!

So now we have arrived at yet another turning point in our nation's history. The sexual crime of sodomy may soon find its place alongside the crime of child killing in a "penumbra" of the Constitution as a "right." There will be much Christian hand-wringing when this happens, if it happens; but there should be no surprise. When the majority of the Church of Jesus Christ has abandoned the defense of the "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God," why should we expect a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold those same dictated and revealed laws of God? Why would we be shocked if the majority of the Court does what the majority of the Church did? It is not as if God has not graciously given us enough time to head this disaster off!

As late as 1986, in the case Bowers v. Hardwick, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that there is no constitutional right to commit sodomy. Writing for the majority, Justice Byron White stated:

"Sodomy was a criminal offense at common law and was forbidden by the laws of the original thirteen States when they ratified the Bill of Rights. In 1868, when the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, all but 5 of the 37 States in the Union had criminal sodomy laws. In fact, until 1961, all 50 States outlawed sodomy, and today, 24 States and the District of Columbia continue to provide criminal penalties for sodomy performed in private and between consenting adults. . . . Against this background, to claim that a right to engage in such conduct is 'deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition' or 'implicit in the concept of ordered liberty' is, at best, facetious."

The reason sodomy had been outlawed in all 50 states until 1961 is because that act is in violation of the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God which this nation and every state in this nation are to be governed by in accordance to our nation's charter, the Declaration of Independence. Being a crime against God's natural order, sodomy is proscribed by the first law; and it is specifically outlawed by the second law, God's dictated Word, the Bible.

Certainly, one can speculate as to why in the latter half of the Twentieth Century, Christians abandoned their support for laws that ban sodomy, and other sexual crimes between consenting adults; but the fact is that they did, and now the seeds of sexual anarchy sown may be on the verge of producing a bitter harvest.

If the heirs of Sodom have their day, it is my hope that one good thing might yet come out of such a noxious, evil court decision. For decades, the key strategy of the pro-family movement has been to talk about the health risks of the "gay lifestyle" and why such unhealthy behavior should not be promoted. Certainly, there is value in that to a point, but such an approach cannot hold back the sexual libertines as it has not properly equipped Christians or given them a solid incentive to mount an effective, God-pleasing counteroffensive against Sodom's assaults. Instead, the vast number of Christians, and Americans in general, have come to the conclusion that sodomites do all sorts of unhealthy things which are repulsive; but they have a right to do such things; and of course, they should not be discriminated against based on private conduct. Up until the Texas case, I dare say there were precious few high-profile Christian or pro-family leaders who had ever uttered the word sodomy in public pertaining to civil law, let alone used the word sodomite, and called for the recriminalization of the acts from which that word is derived.

In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld sodomy laws as constitutional, in spite of the fact that most Christian and pro-family leaders had already abandoned defense of such laws. In 1996, in Romer v. Evans, the court signaled that the life span of existing sodomy laws was clearly growing short; but still pro-family leaders clung to their vain hope of turning back the sodomite tide by positive talk about protecting marriage from sodomites and sodomites from themselves.

So now seventeen years after Bowers v. Hardwick and seven years after Romer v. Evans, the sodomites may well stand poised on the brink of a stunning victory of which they once only dreamed. Should that dream become reality, Christians will be furious with the U.S. Supreme Court for not upholding the law which they long ago abandoned. If the sodomites now succeed in having the U.S. Supreme Court put their imprimatur on the pro-family movement's de facto repeal of sodomy laws through their unwillingness to champion such laws, our frustration should be focused in the right direction. If one leaves the chicken house door open long enough, he should not be surprised to be left with nothing but feathers sooner or later.

Whichever way the Texas case goes, I do hope many Christians learn the valuable lesson to which I alluded earlier. It is a lesson which is found, like all worthwhile lessons, in God's Word. "They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them" (Proverbs 28:4). We cannot successfully contend with the lawless by abandoning God's law ourselves.

In the main, the defense against the sodomite war machine has been built upon a flawed foundation, and it would appear we may soon be able to say "the ruin of that house was great." But should that happen, it will do no good to point fingers at each other; rather survival of our liberties and all hope of pushing back the black night of sexual anarchy which is fast descending dictates that we clear away the rubble of that failed structure which the sodomites so predictably destroyed in their thirty-year offensive. We must get back down to the foundation which caused the collapse and build a new one based on true law and plain truth.

If the U.S. Supreme Court deems sexual perversion to be a cherished constitutional right, all Christians should grieve the depth to which our nation has fallen. But we should not give in or give up. Rather we should resolve to recommit to honestly, articulately defending God's true law and its proper application with regard to man's law while also fervently preaching Christ's pure gospel. And we should never, ever again expect the civil government to uphold what the Church will not defend.

- Pastor Ralph Ovadal is the director of Wisconsin Christians United.

Wisconsin Christians United
P.O. Box 771
Monroe, WI 53566
Phone: 608-328-4841
E-Mail Form
Website: www.WCUweb.com

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