By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
Lonnie Wilkey
In 2015, the issue of same-sex marriage took center stage. I doubt any of us will forget June 26, the day that the United States Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is protected under the Constitution and is now legal in all 50 states.
Christians prayed for a different outcome but I think many of us felt that the Supreme Court ultimately would make the wrong call and redefine marriage as it has been known since the beginning of time. After all, it already was legal in several states.
The same-sex marriage snowball had been rolling down a mountain unhindered for many years, so the avalanche was not surprising when it happened. Disappointing, yes? The Supreme Court ruling just confirmed what we, as Christians, have known for years —- our nation has drifted away, not only from God, but morals in general.
As the new year begins, look for the issue of transgenders to take over where same-sex marriage ended.
That snowball has been rolling in recent years as well, but it was overshadowed by those pushing the same-sex marriage agenda. With that one settled (at least in the courts), transgenders will be the new hot button issue.
Just last week, Baptist Press reported that the Kroger Company, the nation’s largest grocery store chain with 2,500 stores, will begin covering transgender procedures, such as gender-reassignment surgery and drug therapy, under its employee medical benefit plan.
Beginning Jan. 1, Kroger’s 400,000 workers will be eligible for up to $100,000 for gender-reassignment surgery, drug therapy, and other procedures. Kroger will become the largest American retailer to offer such coverage, BP reported.
The most troubling news for me is that a Chicago-area school district voted in December to allow a transgender male student access to the girl’s high school locker room.
Baptist Press reported that the student, referred to as “Student A,” filed a complaint with the OCR in 2014.
“Although the school allows the student to use female restrooms at school because of the privacy of stalls, school officials restricted the student, who is still anatomically male, from using the female locker room for changing and showering because they said it would violate other students’ privacy. The OCR investigated and concluded the district violated federal laws against sexual discrimination,” Baptist Press reported.
So, a school district deems it wise to allow a male access to the female locker room. If I was a parent of a teenage daughter in that school district, I would “pitch a fit.”
Our society is drowning in a moral sewer each passing day. We don’t have the “right” to say if we are a man or a woman. That “right” was decided by God in Heaven the day we were born.
If a person chooses to be other than what God created him or her, so be it. But that person has no right to subject his or her misguided views on others. And a group of educated, sensible people (which you hope would be the case on a school board) should have the courage to say no, regardless of what the courts and the Department of Education says.
According to Baptist Press, one father in the school district told the Chicago Tribune, “It seems the rights of this one person are trumping the rights of everyone else.” Sad to say, that’s the way it has been for years and it is only going to get worse.
The issue of transgenders is one of the primary reasons Christian colleges are “asserting their rights” to a Title IX exemption (see story in the Dec. 16 issue of the Baptist and Reflector).
At some point, Johnny will enroll at one of our Baptist colleges and when “he” shows up, all of a sudden, “he’s” Janie. It’s going to happen at some point. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that will never happen in Tennessee. It will, if it hasn’t already on state campuses.
Our colleges are doing “due dilgence” and are preparing for the inevitable.
While 2015 was a troubling year with the same-sex marriage decision and 2016 already looking bleak with the transgender issue, we have one hope — Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. It looks bad today, but read the end of the book. He wins!
Happy New Year!
