Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
… First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
–Jesus in Matthew 7:3-5
When a culture goes awry, the Church must first look at itself and see how we can improve. On several key issues, we have work to do, and the recent Platform approved by the Republican National Convention gives us several examples where by the Church needs to strengthen its presence and cultural apologetic. Here in Part I of this series on the Platform we will look at the specific issue of marriage.
Years ago, scholar Richard M. Weaver made popular the phrase “Ideas Have Consequences,” and when a culture abandons its underlying Christian worldview, there are practical political consequences. George Barna documents the decline of a Christian worldview in American culture as summarized here:
A new study is confirming that the amount of Americans with a biblical worldview is continuing to shrink. The latest release from the “American Worldview Inventory 2024” notes that the number of people with a biblical worldview has declined in each of the last five generations, with the percentage of adults with that view plunging from 12% to 4%.
That’s 4 percent. Incredible. One consequence of the decline of a Christian worldview is a lack of support for marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Like the decades long move away from marriage as one-man and one-woman in American culture, the RNC Platform is a logical result of an underlying non-Christian worldview.
We cannot expect non-Christians to act like Christians, and so as part of its outreach mission to shepherd the culture, the Church needs to defend Christianity and the ethics that are innate within it, such as marriage. Here is one resource to defend the fundamentals of Christianity, Handbook of Christian Apologetics, and on the issue of marriage specifically, here is a free booklet from FPIW in order to equip yourself with logic and key arguments so that we can engage an often godless culture. It’s called Defining Marriage: Why Only One Man and One Woman? We also offer our four-part series defending marriage here.
So what exactly happened at the RNC in 2024? Let’s look at a comparison of platforms:
Marriage
- Former GOP Platform (2016):
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- “The American family … is the foundation of civil society, and the cornerstone of the family is natural marriage, the union of one man and one woman.”
- New GOP Platform (2024):
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- “Republicans will promote a Culture that values the Sanctity of Marriage, the blessings of childhood, the foundational role of families, and supports working parents. We will end policies that punish families.”
- DNC Platform (2016):
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- Silent on marriage and family being the foundation of society.
In contrast, the DNC platform mentions neither the sanctity of marriage nor that it should be between one man and one woman, because we know those ideas run against everything they believe in. Democrats believe in so-called “marriage equality” which allows men to marry men, women to marry women, and even promotes marriages of three or more individuals (polygamy). Democrats have taken an inherently Christian institution – after all, marriage was designed by God – and perverted it to suit their own interests.
- FPIW’s Platform:
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- We believe marriage is between one man and one woman, and that it is the optimum family arrangement for the rearing of children. We advocate for the preservation and promotion of marriage at the state and federal levels in order to address our social ills rather than an ever larger, more controlling government.
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- “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” —Genesis 2:24 (NKJV)
The recent change in the Republican platform’s view on traditional marriage demonstrates the logical result of what happens when Christians are not involved and the Church goes silent and loses its power. The good news is that the Platform does not change the fact that the majority of GOP candidates running in this election continue to uphold the view that marriage is between one man and one woman. And let us not forget: The GOP’s current position is far superior to the DNC’s outright rejection of natural marriage and its embrace of the homosexual and transgender agenda.
The bottom line is: We, as the Church, the Body of Christ called to love a needy world, we have work to do. If you would like to join us in advancing biblical values in the education system, please consider becoming a Defender today:
- Want to Change Our Culture? 500,000 DEFENDER Prayer Warriors Are Needed.
- Want to be Heard in Olympia? 200,000 DEFENDER Activists for Political Power Are Needed.
- Want to Change Washington’s Laws? 450,000 DEFENDER Signers of Initiatives & Referendums Are Needed.
- Want Lasting Change? 1.7 Million DEFENDER Voters for Conservative Candidates Are Needed.
Join us! Please sign up to become a DEFENDER today.
(Sponsored by: FPIW Action • PO Box 5298 Lynnwood, WA 98046-5298 • 425-608-0242)
