THE LAW THAT ALLOWED SAME-SEX MARRIAGES IN THE DANISH CHURCH
On June 15, 2012, the Danish government passed a law, which allowed homosexuals to be married in the Danish church. A new gender neutral ritual was made in which the words “man” and “woman” are omitted.
It did stir a debate about the Bible, about human rights and Danish traditions within our culture. A large minority of priests rejected the notion of the church performing same-sex marriages, yet as a minority, their vote was overruled.
The law leaves the individual priest free to decide for him- or herself whether they want to offer same-sex marriages in their own church.
This law is very much a symbol of its time and to progressive humanists, the law is a step forwards to a tolerant and diverse society rid of discrimination.
THE RELIGIOUS DECLINE
However, the law reveals another side of the matter. The debate about the new law did not really touch on the very nerve of what was taking place: the passing of the law which does not only ignore divine scripture, but actually dictates the divine in what to be and what to say. This was not only a humiliation of the church itself, the passing of the law was also yet another in a line of symptoms of the the west ignoring or downright rejecting a major pillar in its foundation of western society. God.
Today, Christinity is in decline and its places of worship (the Christian churches) are the useless remains of something which we used to hold in high esteem, but are increasingly rejecting in our individualistic and consumer-based society.
Danish priests are being shamed and criticized online for believing that the holy scriptures do not endorse homosexual relationships, let alone same-sex marriage rituals in their churches. They are being persecuted for not accommodating the will of the people.
A CONSUMER MENTALITY DICTATES THE DIVINE
The modern consumer-approach mixed with leftist deconstructive ideology has spread to many previously revered institutions in our society. Our technological society makes it easy for people to question, discard and disrespect religion because it is deemed false and empty.
Some see the church only as a cultural institution which receives taxpayer money to provide a service, with the priests as mere employees. And they expect the priests to do the job they are being paid for.
The Danish Protestant church has in reality become a government-funded theme park with the government adding joyrides, that dictates the exact opposite of what is written in the book, on which the church is founded.
The wide public does not seem to understand the importance of the integrity of the church in accordance with the words in the Bible. The church cannot simply abandon the word of the Bible to accomodate trends in society. Without its integrity, the church is nothing.
The west has replaced Christianity with a growth paradigm that facilitates consumerism and turns it into a religion. The consumer mindset now dictates the divine. Yet with the emptiness that lies in growth and consumerism itself, there will eventually be a vacuum, which needs to be filled.
Our big questions are not being answered by our modern society.
But what will be powerful enough to replace something which appears to be larger than life?