Paul Tells Timothy of a time to come when they will not “endure sound doctrine but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.”
As we enter a new year, this prophecy comes to life with the realization that many have not merely turned their ears to new teachers but in actual fact have turned their ears from the one true God.
In western nations
In December, 2003, twenty five members of the European Union tried in vain to merely write the preamble to the new EU constitution. As reported in the Economist Magazine on December 6, 2003, “One of the most controversial issues is whether to include any explicit reference to God in the statement of values that serves as a preamble to the constitution.” Despite the fact that the vast majority of the EU are supposedly Christians, the reference to God will most likely be removed from the preamble. “The Poles are leading the God squad, with some support from other Catholic countries such as Italy and Spain, however the French, for whom secularism is an article of faith, are adamantly opposed.” The aspect of having God embedded into the constitution is equally perplexing for the Brits, for their national anthem is a direct plea to God to “save the monarch.”
However, such deliberations regarding God are not limited to the EU. In the United States, there are several issues before the courts dealing with removing God from the everyday lives of Americans. From the Ten Commandments, to school vouchers to state mottos, the courts are working overtime attempting to eliminate God. In one of the most famous recent examples, on November 14, 2003, Alabama’s Chief Justice, Roy Moore, was removed from his office for defying a federal judge’s order to remove a 2.6 ton monument of the Ten Commandments from the state Supreme Court building. As reported by CNN, “Moore and his supporters say the Ten Commandments are the foundation of the U.S. legal system and that forbidding the acknowledgment of the Judeo-Christian God violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of free exercise of religion.” But a lawsuit filed after its installation argued the massive stone marker constituted a government endorsement of Christianity.
In his defense, Mr. Moore indicated that the monument was there simply to recognize the Ten Commandments as the supreme law of the land.
Homosexual marriage
Niagara Falls has always been a destination of choice for newlyweds. However, since the Ontario courts ruled last summer that marriage is between two individuals and not necessarily a man and a woman, Niagara Falls, Ontario, has become a destination of choice for the actual wedding ceremony.
Ontario is not alone in its debate on same-sex marriages; Vermont also grappled with the issue in 2000. The state Supreme Court had ruled the previous year on behalf of three same-sex couples that the legislature had to pass a law giving them at least the same legal rights as married couples. Then-Governor Howard Dean jumped on that life raft, backing a civil unions bill. The legislature passed it after contentious debate, Dean signed it without cameras in the room and Vermont made history.
The Massachusetts courts recently decided that under the state’s constitution, the state may not exclude “qualified same-sex couples from access to civil marriage?’ Then, just to make sure the court wasn’t the only controversial government institution in town, the justices delayed implementing their ruling for 180 days to allow the legislature to craft a law to implement the decision. Unfortunately, the amendment will have to wait, for amending the constitution requires votes on any measure in two straight legislative sessions and then a statewide referendum, meaning nothing will happen on that front for some three years.
The same-sex marriage issue is not limited to North America. Taiwan became the first Asian nation to legitimize the matter in October, when a law was passed allowing same-sex couples to both marry and adopt children. Not only has Sweden allowed same sex marriages to proceed, but their national church has taken the first step towards allowing marriages of this nature. The Lutheran Swedish Church pledged in October, 2003, to allow same-sex marriages after their next synod meeting in 2004.
Indeed, the prophecy as foretold in Timothy is correct; the world at large is turning its ears and hearts from God and pursuing after mammon. It will only be when Our Master returns that this world will turn its ears back to God and listen to His instruction. Until then we can only watch and pray that that day may come quickly.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One