The Enormity of It All
As a writer, I make mistakes.
Once upon a blog, I claimed that a point my opponent was making was a “mute point.” I soon learned that an inconsequential point is actually a “moot point.” Oops!
I have also misused the word enormity, as if it meant something BIG! Enormity actually refers to an atrocity, or an outrageous, vicious, criminal act. It pertains to the quality of passing all moral bounds into excessive wickedness. An enormity is a horrible offense or evil. It does not refer to size (at least not originally).
A correct usage goes like this: “The dishonesty of some candidates is an enormity beyond belief.” Another might be: “The way he tortures the English language is an enormity!”
Okay, okay, I’m working on it!
We all make semantic mistakes. Communication is messy. But what about those who use the force of law to mandate mistakes? When a court of law enforces an entirely new definition of a word, should we sheepishly submit?
Recently, the Iowa Supreme Court decided that marriage cannot be defined as a union between one man and one woman. The ruling specifically dictated that “[the] definition of marriage necessarily must be expanded to include same-sex couples.” So, marriage in Iowa must twist and bend to accommodate homosexual preferences. By force of law, marriage in Iowa now means something radically different from what it used to mean, and has meant for thousands of years. The traditional definition of marriage, according to the ruling, “must be stricken from the statute.”
Let’s back up.
Jesus defined marriage this way:
“At the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,’ and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ … So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." (Matthew 19:4-6)
That’s the original definition (“at the beginning”) -- "...male and female... no longer two, but one." Seven judges in Iowa have overturned Jesus.
Six of the seven judges were appointed by Democrats. Shame on them. Shame on the one appointed by a Republican too! The ruling reads like a homosexual activist script justifying special rights for "lesbians and gays." It's full of heavy-handed rights rhetoric applied to homosexuals but not to polygamists, polyamorists, mistresses, bigamists, and same-sex incest advocates all of whom can equally qualify as consenting adults seeking equal marriage rights out of "love." All these grievance groups can lay claim to the same "disadvantages" that homosexuals claim. Why is it still legal to "discriminate" against them but not homosexuals? Are they less human? Will the definition of marriage soon have to be changed to accommodate their preferences too in the name of “equal protection?”
Marriage in America is becoming anything you can get away with.
The enormity of this decision is huge. We are crossing moral bounds into excessive wickedness, by force of law. The incredible arrogance of these judges is an enormity beyond belief.
Mothers and fathers matter to children. No same-sex partnership or grouping can offer a child a mom and a dad, which marriage was ordained by God to provide for children. Public elementary schools in Iowa will instruct small children that the traditional definition of marriage is discrimination (which they are told is an evil thing). And those who dissent will be called extremists and bigots (as is often already the case).
The notion that children need a married mom and a dad is not bigotry.
Our moral infrastructure is unraveling along with the real meaning of important words. In the same way that it diminished art for Andy Warhol to re-define it as "...anything you can get away with," it will diminish marriage to re-define it the same way. Hurt marriage and you hurt children, badly.
When governmental powers enforce moral atrocities on us, we should not go mute. Don’t be intimidated or discouraged by the enormity of it all. Jesus still lives, and his own brave warnings about “Sodom and Gomorrah” (Matthew 10:16; 11:24 and Luke 10:12) reveal what he would stand up and say if he were here in the flesh today. Be graceful and fearless but don't be silent! Remember, our eternal hope stands regardless of what happens to America.
It’s easy to presume that the word enormity means something big, because it sounds like “enormous.” It’s one thing when a word changes its meaning by mistake. It’s quite another when a gravely mistaken change is forced on us by dictatorial judges. That's a gross enormity!
