The protection of marriage constitutes the great moral challenge of our age, framing not only the 2004 presidential election, but determining the future shape of our civilization. Given the stakes, no issue rivals the question of marriage, for to destroy humanity’s central institution is to launch the greatest social revolution in human history.

Signaling total capitulation to the homosexual agenda, the American Psychological Association has endorsed same-sex marriage and now calls for the complete acceptance of homosexual partnerships and homosexual adoption. In a sweeping resolution, the professional organization for psychologists provided ample evidence that the group is now practicing politics rather than psychology.

The church’s engagement with the culture involves a host of issues, controversies, and decisions–but no issue defines our current cultural crisis as clearly as homosexuality. Some churches and denominations have capitulated to the demands of the homosexual rights movement, and now accept homosexuality as a fully valid lifestyle. Other denominations are tottering on the brink, and without a massive conservative resistance, they are almost certain to abandon biblical truth and bless what the Bible condemns.

In this strange postmodern age, heretics find themselves in a very strange predicament. Various skeptics, revisionists, liberal theorists, and atheists have been undermining the faith for more than a century. By this time, virtually every heresy has been expounded by numerous proponents. The creative heretic of the contemporary age has to come up with some new angle or bizarre new theory to promote.

Is the battle against same-sex marriage already lost? With homosexual marriage now legal in Massachusetts and with momentum toward legalization now spreading across the nation, homosexual advocates are increasingly confident that victory is in sight. Now, some conservatives are beginning to wonder if the gay activists might be right. Christopher Caldwell, writing in The Financial Times, notes the momentum of the gay rights movement as it achieved its great victory in Massachusetts. “In gaining full legal marriage rights in an important state, American gays have effected the quickest transition from pariah status to protected status in the history of civil rights movements.” Caldwell, a senior editor at The Weekly Standard, appears certain that same-sex marriage is now an established social reality.

The spectacular success of the homosexual movement stands as one of the most fascinating phenomena of our time. In less than two decades, homosexuality has moved from “the love that dares not speak its name,” to the center of America’s public life. The homosexual agenda has advanced even more quickly than its most ardent proponents had expected, and social change of this magnitude demands some explanation.

When the United Methodist Church met in Pittsburgh earlier this month for its General Conference, the issue of homosexuality was front and center. Controversies related to homosexuality had consumed much of the denomination’s attention for the last three decades, but the action of a church court in its Pacific Northwest Conference created a firestorm as Methodists gathered in Pittsburgh.

Like mile-markers in time, certain calendar dates stand in memory as not only historic, but momentous. Dates like December 7, 1941 and September 11, 2001 represent far more than mere days on a calendar. Now, May 17, 2004 must be added to that list.

Supporters of same-sex marriage have been aided in their quest to normalize homosexuality by a constellation of liberal religious groups–including some of the historic Christian denominations. These groups now serve as theological enablers for the homosexual movement’s rejection of Christian morality.

With the movement toward same-sex marriage and the normalization of homosexuality gaining momentum, some churches are running for cover. Yet, our Christian responsibility is clear–we are to tell the truth about what God has revealed concerning human sexuality, gender, and marriage. No one said it was going to be easy.

Biblical Christianity represents the greatest obstacle to the normalization of homosexuality. The reason for this is quite simple–the Bible emphatically condemns all forms of homosexual behavior. If homosexual advocates are to succeed, they must either marginalize or neutralize the Bible as an authority.

Homosexuality is now the most controversial issue of debate in American culture – and it is likely to stay that way for a long time. Once famously described as “the love that dares not speak its name,” homosexuality is now openly discussed and debated throughout American society.