California Seeks a New Way to Burn Books

“There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches.” Ray Bradbury
My book–Restoring the Shattered–may be banned in California before it hits bookstores in January. A situation, which–if the courts uphold it–may spread to other states.
The California General Assembly has passed a bill (it now goes to the Senate) that would ban the sale of texts that promote the idea that a valid marriage is one that includes one man and one woman only.
That would also mean the bill would ban the sale of the Bible.
Furthermore, under the provisions of the bill, there is no allowance for disagreement about a condition called gender dysphoria–confusion over one’s sexual identity–also known as transgenderism. There will only be one legal way to consider that issue–the way that insists people can choose their own gender and everyone else must agree. This law would mandate affirmation rather than assistance to alleviate the confusion.
In the meantime, New Jersey has passed a bill outlawing therapy meant to help someone overcome same-sex attraction. California passed a similar bill six years ago.
My book discusses same-sex attraction but not gender dysphoria. I uphold traditional marriage. I don’t ask those with same-sex tendencies to try to change those tendencies. I do suggest the Church call all Christ followers to holiness–which includes sexual purity–having sex only within traditional marriage.
I,  like some others, suggest that Christianity calls people to holiness rather than heterosexuality
Clearly, the California bill and New Jersey law defy Constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion and freedom of speech. But let’s not assume the courts will act as we hope and overrule the tyranny these proposals entail.
I have a friend who became involved in the life issue in the early 1970s–before Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton woke some of us up. Those are the SCOTUS decisions that legalized abortion until birth for any reason. My friend tells of her confidence that the Supreme Court would uphold life, confidence the decisions shattered.
Dr. Bernard Nathanson was on the “pro-choice” side when the court rendered the decisions. He later converted to the pro-life side before becoming a Christian. In his book The Hand of God, Nathanson tells of his surprise that the court went as far as it did in eradicating every law restricting abortion across the nation.
Even those who supported abortion were surprised at the magnitude of the court’s overreach.
The law in New Jersey and the bill in California represent an overreach on the same level as Roe‘s and Doe‘s.
David French writes regarding California’s bill: “This is extraordinarily radical. Christian orthodoxy is simple — regardless of a person’s desires (their “orientation”), the standard of right conduct is crystal clear. Sex is reserved for marriage between a man and a woman. When it comes to “gender expression,” there is no difference between “sex” and “gender,” and the Christian response to gender dysphoria is compassion and treatment, not indulgence and surgical mutilation.
“Put another way, there is a fundamental difference between temptation and sin. California law would intrude directly on this teaching by prohibiting even the argument that regardless of sexual desire, a person’s sexual behavior should conform to Biblical standards.”
We can hope and pray our Justices will uphold Constitutional principles, but we cannot put our trust in them alone to save us from laws that would suppress our freedom to express our faith.
Pray, respectfully lobby your elected officials, then pray more. We cannot ignore such assaults on our freedom.
Patrick Henry told the Virginia Assembly “There is no retreat but in submission and slavery!”
We must speak up now–while we still can.
“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. ” Revelation 3:2 NIV

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