Some Maine columnists are disparaging me personally and belittling my Christian beliefs.

They wrongly assume that this is the way to undermine the Christian Civic League's work against the homosexual rights movement in Maine. That is why bitter personal attacks and ridicule have finally come to the forefront.

Over the past decade, the League has more than once successfully opposed the agenda of the homosexual rights movement, even though every last bastion of elitism in Maine was against us. I don't think this success is attributable to my charming personality or my quick wit. It is attributable to the force of the ideas we have offered.

Now, the left has finally exhausted its supply of arguments and deceptions. The only course of action left open to liberal columnists is to attack me personally.  I lead an organization which is concerned with matters of right and wrong, so words like "evil" and "wrong" do have a place in my arguments.

I do feel outraged at times and angry at other times. This is a natural reaction for anyone who sees something he loves being harmed. And I do feel "buoyant and youthful" on occasion, when I see the truth winning out.

I don't hate anyone; nor do I ridicule or revile my opponents. My heart aches when I think of the brokenness I see in homosexual relationships.

Someone very close to me recently told me about riding in a car with his young niece, a little girl without a father - not through an accident or a broken marriage, but through design. Her mother is a lesbian.

The little girl asked my friend, "Is it OK if I call you Daddy?"

If your heart isn't broken by this, you had better see a minister, and fast - or better yet, check your pulse.

It is fascinating to me that this entire issue can be reduced so easily to an argument over one person - me - by so many otherwise thoughtful writers in Maine.

They seem indifferent about the future of families in Maine, preferring instead to make the absurd charge that I "hate gays."

A BLIND EYE

To those on the left, this isn't about hating the sin and loving the sinner. It's substituting personal attacks for real ideas. It isn't about important theological and philosophical issues. It's about the need to turn a blind eye towards matters of right and wrong, truth and falsehood.  And this debate is deeply personal for all of us. The left is hitting closer and closer to more and more homes.

We have some very serious work to do on the issue of human sexuality. If we do not, we are going to lose this civilization.  Part of being human is to make a distinction between right and wrong. Philosophers call this "the ethical fact." All cultures have done this up to now, except our own, a culture in which liberals have gained the upper hand. They have decided to place sex in a special category where nothing is right or wrong.

But allow me to ask a simple question: Wouldn't it be better for all involved if we maintained our traditional understanding of marriage and the family? Every lesbian or "gay" man longs for a loving mother and father. Every mother and father wants to build a family that gives them grandchildren.

Why aren't we creating a society with policies, laws, and beliefs that support this obvious truth?

Instead, we want to violate common sense, ignore the lessons of history and toss out customs and laws that stretch back thousands of years, all in an effort to place sodomy on a par with holy matrimony.

NO LOGIC TO IT

Where is the logic in this? Perhaps Bill Nemitz can explain it to you. I can't. It is a form of social insanity with roots that are deep and wide. There is only one solution, and that is for Christians to speak and act like Christians.

That means no pornography. It is wrong. It means no sex outside of marriage. That is wrong, too. That means divorce only in the case of adultery, and even then it must be discouraged.

Christians need to be Christian. What else will they be? From what historic and durable set of ideas will we derive our values? The "Religion and Values" pages of the Portland Press Herald?

Do we even care? I hope so. Indeed, I pray so. The little girls and boys of the future are all going to want mommies and daddies. They are already calling for them, you know.
 

- Special to the Press Herald
 

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