Rebranding Sin

 

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,

who put darkness for light and light for darkness,

who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20 ESV

 

Dear Church Family,

 

     Karl Menninger was American psychiatrist who was a strong opponent of punishing people for behavior that resulted from mental illness. His 1973 book, "Whatever Became of Sin?", however, Menninger tried to rehabilitate the term “sin” as an important concept if society is to hold people responsible for their actions. Not all evil behavior is a “health” issue. Despite Menninger’s best efforts, and those of the church, it seems we’ve taken even a further step away from calling sin “sin.” As Isaiah 5:20 describes it, behaviors that used to be universally acknowledged as evil are sometimes actually characterized as good and vice versa. Want some examples?

 

     Do you remember Blues Clues? John loved that show as a child. On a typical episode, Steve (I think) would have a mystery to solve. Maybe he lost his glue stick or something. The episode would revolve around finding clues and, in the end, he’d use basic reasoning to find his glue stick. The End. Well, Blues Clues has had a makeover. In a recent episode, an actual real-life drag queen is the guest on the show (depicted as animated), and leads the cast in a song and “pride parade” extolling the virtues of families with two moms, two dads, non-binary, etc.

 

     Several months ago, a drag bar in Dallas, Texas, hosted a “family friendly” drag show where scantily-clad drag queens danced in front of and accepted token dollar bills from the children as if at a strip club. Then there’s the episode of Good Morning America a few years ago where the “oh-so-brave” little eleven-year-old drag queen boy, “Desmond Is Amazing,” danced to the cheers of adults in the audience. There was a Canadian documentary in 2019, Drag Kids, on the new trend of drag queen children. Adorable little “Queen Lactatia” was one of the stars.

 

     Or maybe you’ve heard of the Alameda County (California) library that sponsors a drag queen story hour. I mean, who wouldn’t want to have the children’s book, Gender Queer, read to their child by a man dressed in suggestive women’s attire with over-the-top eye shadow? Finally, I’ll just mention Irene Montero, the Spanish “Minister of Equality,” who calls on society to allow children to have sexual relations with whomever they want—provided they “consent,” of course.

 

     It used to be considered a universal good for adults to protect children from being sexualized, including protecting them from sexual predators. That universal good is now called oppression, homophobia, transphobia, or some other negative appellation. Now the exposure of children to obvious sexual environments is praised with terms like “self-expression,” “pride,” and “toleration.” In the name of deviants who want to live out their fetishes in front of children, society is allowing children to be “dragged” through the mud. “Woe” is a biblical expression of impending judgment by God. With Isaiah, I say “woe” to this shameful rebranding of sin.

 

God bless,

 

Pastor Kevin