By: Dale Weckbacher
Amendment I Ratified December 15, 1791
Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of
the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress
of grievances. (1)
James 3:6-8
6 And the tongue is a
fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it
defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on
fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of
the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the
tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison
NKJV
One of the great traditions in the United States on New
Years Day is the Tournament of Roses Parade.
When I was around 10 years old, my family was moving back to Phoenix
from Seattle. We took the coastal route
so we could visit my dad’s cousin who lived in Pasadena. Our trip took us through Pasadena over New
Years, giving us an opportunity to attend the Tournament of Roses Parade that
year.
Many of us have watched this event on TV and with the
benefit of high definition television, we can make out the minute details on
the floats. However, there is nothing
like being there in person allowing you to smell the flowers and see the
massive size of many of the floats.
However, this year two events occurred, politicizing this great event
and sullying this great tradition.
The first event involved a gay wedding float. Danny Leclair and Aubrey Loots chose to use
the forum of the Tournament of Roses Parade to have their gay wedding since gay
marriage is now legal in California. (2) The first amendment of the Constitution grants
them the right to express their support of gay marriage. However, since the parade is a private event,
they have to have permission from the parade officials and since the float was
in the parade, they must have gotten that permission. However just because speech is free does not
necessarily make it wise for the belief was that this float would garner
support for gay marriage but interestingly instead garnered criticism from both
sides of the issue. (2)
Danny Leclair confessed that, “We did not expect that some of our ‘supporters’ would join
the chorus of dissent. We heard from gay
men who felt it was too soon to flaunt our wedding in public. Some felt that it was wildly inappropriate to
assert that committed same sex relationships could contribute to the reduction
of HIV infections around the world. We
heard from friends of the LGBT community who thought two men kissing on a cake
would set back the movement by enraging the Right Wing Conservative groups. Then there were the concerned citizens who
felt that any wedding, gay, or straight, should be reserved for less public
affairs. (2)
The second event was the arrest of 19 members of PETA who were
attempting to stop the SeaWorld float. (3) The purpose of their protest was to express
their belief that the animals at SeaWorld are treated cruelly. Once again the members of PETA have the
constitutional right to express their opinion but unlike the gay wedding float,
they did not have the permission of parade officials, resulting in their
arrest. The SeaWorld float participated
in the parade so the protest failed.
James 3:6-8 speaks of the power of the tongue. Words mean things and it is though our words
that we as human beings express our ideas.
In fact, our ability to communicate through words sets us apart from
other living things. James is reminding
us that our words are powerful and there will be consequences for what we
say. Quite often, there are unintended
consequences from what we say.
Our founding fathers established a constitutional standard
of free speech in our nation in order to promote the free expression of ideas
without fear of government intrusion.
However, the biblical standard for speech urges us to choose our words
wisely. James 1:19-20 says, “My beloved
brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” (NKJV)
The couple on the gay marriage float unwisely believed the
nation was ready to witness a gay wedding during the traditional Tournament of
Roses Parade. What they soon discovered
is that people on both sides of the issue were opposed to using this forum to
express their opinion. If anything,
their unwise choice of where to express their opinion most likely stirred up
additional opposition to gay marriage.
The PETA protesters believed they could bring attention to
their issue by stopping the Rose Parade and thus receive global exposure by the
networks covering the parade. What they
discovered is that their efforts would be stopped by law enforcement that were
present to insure everyone in attendance were able to watch the parade without
interruption from a group wishing to promote their political agenda.
The lesson learned from these two events is that even though
we have the constitutional right to freedom of speech, there is a higher
biblical standard the urges us to be wise in our choice of where, when, and how
to express ourselves through words or actions.
Danny Leclair and Aubrey Loots, and PETA unwisely chose the Tournament
of Roses Parade as a forum from which to promote their belief. The result was not the advancement of their
ideas but an escalation of opposition and, as was the case for the 19 PETA
supporters, a little jail time with which to start the new year.
Any comedian will tell you that timing is everything. There is much wrong with our nation’s
leadership and no lack of complaints and things to say. However, many in our nation have chosen not
to pay attention to the decay of the nation that is going on around them and
when confronted with it chose not to listen.
However, when things begin to hit home, such as when their health insurance
is canceled and they are unable to get coverage from one of the government
exchanges, they cannot help but realize that something is wrong. This is when a wise speaker has the opportunity
to step in and explain how our nation is currently in a dangerous state of
decline. We are approaching a time when
those of us choosing to be wise speakers will have abundant teachable moments
as things like Obamacare begin to affect the lives of more and more people in
our country.
1. Hillsdale College. The Constitution of the
United States of America. [book auth.] Hillsdale College. The U.S.
Constitution: A Reader. Hillsdale MI : Hillsdale College Press, 2012.
2. Wilde, Robert.
ROSE PARADE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE CONDEMNED BY LGBT COMMUNITY. www.breitbart.com.
[Online] Breitbart News, January 2, 2014. [Cited: January 3, 2014.]
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/01/01/Rose-Parade-Gay-Marriage-Condemned-by-LGBT-Activists.
3. Breitbart News.
19 ARRESTED AS PETA PROTESTS SEA WORLD FLOAT AT ROSE BOWL PARADE. www.breitbart.com.
[Online] January 1, 2014. [Cited: January 3, 2014.] http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2014/01/01/19-Arrested-as-PETA-Protests-Sea-World-Float-Rose-Bowl-Parade.
USA - from Puritans to Impure-itans
ReplyDeleteIs there a connection between beautiful New England and entire American cities turned into smoking rubble? There is.
Take same-sex marriage. I would have guessed that a "sin" city (San Francisco? Las Vegas?) would have been the first to legalize it.
Oddly it's been the place where America started that's wanted to be the first place to help bring about the end of America and its values! It's been a Nor'easter of Perversion (helping to fulfill the end time "days of Lot" predicted in Luke 17) that began in (you guessed it) Boston in 2004.
New England has gone from the Mayflower Compact to the Gay Power Impact, from Providence to decadence, from Bible thumpers to God dumpers, from university to diversity to perversity, and from the land of the Great Awakening to God's Future Shakening that will make the Boston bombings look like Walden Pond ripples by comparison!
The same Nor'easter has been spreading south and as far west as Washington State where, after swelling up with pride, Mt. Rainier may wish to celebrate shame-sex marriage by having a blast that Seaddlepated folks can share in lava-land!
The same Luke 17 prediction is tied to the Book of Revelation which speaks of the cities that God will flatten because of same-sexism - including American cities - a scenario I'll have to accept since I can't create my own universe and decree rules for it.
I've just been analyzing the world's terminal "religion" that has its "god," its accessories, its "rites," and even a flag. It's an obsession that the infected converts are willing to live for, fight for - and even die for!
Want more facts? Google "God to Same-Sexers: Hurry Up," "Government-Approved Illegals," "FOR GAYS ONLY: Jesus predicted" and "The Background Obama Can't Cover Up."
Also Google " 'Jesus Never Mentioned Homosexuality.' When gays have birthdays..."