by Emmett Smith

Many in today’s world are offended by the assertion that something is evil. In an article posted on May 28 under the headline “Guest Chaplain's Prayer Offends”, WorldNetDaily reported that certain members of the U.S. House of Representatives were offended by a prayer invoked by the guest chaplain. The offending portion was quoted as follows, “leaders who will seek your truth … who accept that a lie is a lie and not spin; that it is immorality and not an alternative lifestyle; that it is murder not a procedure; that it is stealing and not creative accounting; that rebellion is rebellion no matter what name we give it.”

If you’re wondering what might have been considered offensive you must not have been paying attention to the political correctness trends of the past several decades. Representative Barney Frank, an avowed homosexual, said “…The statement is a condemnation of gay people. There are appropriate places where you can say those things." This statement causes one to wonder what places Mr. Frank thinks would be appropriate for such statements. He obviously doesn’t think it inappropriate for him to speak his mind wherever he wishes.

Edmund Burke once said, "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." Mr. Burke was speaking of events in England in the mid to late 1700s, but the statement is equally valid today. England is a generation or two more “progressive” than we Americans have yet become. If we would think about what has transpired in England and Europe, and equate those events with what is happening here, we should be able to see many parallels.

And those of us who still subscribe to Biblical standards should be concerned. Indeed, we should have been concerned much sooner. Good men must associate, and do what we may to prevent further moral decline. This is not an unprecedented situation. Israel was often condemned for her moral relativism. Isaiah (Isaiah 5:20) spoke of those who call good evil and evil good.

In the third chapter of Malachi similar statements were made, and a harsh condemnation pronounced. But in the midst of the condemnation was a remarkable statement of hope. Verse 16 says “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.”

Today, those who fear the Lord still must communicate regularly. As the guest chaplain said, rebellion is rebellion no matter what name we give it. May many more good men and women have the courage to stand for the truth in times to come. May God’s book of remembrance have many more entries!