Taiwan Church News
3305 Edition
June 29 – July 5, 2015
Editorial
The Truth Will Make Us Free
On June 26, US Supreme Court made a history-breaking decision on the case of Oberfegell v Hodges, delivering a 5-4 ruling to recognize same-sex marriage as constitutional. US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, “Under the Constitution, same-sex couples seek in marriage the same legal treatment as opposite-sex couples, and it would disparage their choices and diminish their personhood to deny them this right.” After the ruling, US President Obama immediately tweeted: “Today is a big step in our march toward equality. Gay and lesbian couples now have the right to marry, just like anyone else. #LoveWins”
But, this ruling is not without disputation. Justice John Roberts expressed his dissenting, ” But for those who believe in a government of laws, not of men, the majority’s approach is deeply disheartening”, meaning that the right or wrong of same-sex marriage is an issue of congress, not by court.
In fact, the ruling of US Supreme Court to recognize same-sex marriage is not original in this globe. There were already 22 countries around the world having legalized it. Be it the first country Netherlands, or the following countries like Belgium, Canada, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Sweden and etc., even the staunch Catholic Ireland, all joined this wave of legalizing same-sex marriage. An Irish Catholic Father adamantly remarked in an interview that his Christian faith won’t be affected by the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.
Though Taiwan does not have anything related with this ruling, many people still support this legalization on facebooks by changing their icons with a rainbow stamp. But, what made people worried was that, following the water park inferno accidentally happened in Color Play Asia, some preachers attributed the cause of this tragic event to US Supreme Court’s ruling of same-sex marriage. Even some foreign websites reported the party of Color Play Asia as a celebration of the legalization of same-sex marriage, and the inferno as a condemnation from God.
Such kinds of exaggerated rumors, not only could not relieve the inflicted pains of Taiwan society, but also generated more feelings of antipathy. Not to mention, whether the church could preach the gospel further, as some media reporters had openly questioned such mentality of the church: “Are you sure that you are not worshiping Saturn?”
Facing highly contentious social issues, either suppressing the discussion by a dogmatic attitude or deviling the dissidents are of no help to reach a social consensus. PCT as a member of the reformed church, we should constantly be aware of our humanity darkness in the history. Only in a spirit of continuous reformation, we can march forward. At the very moment, when the rights of religious faith falls in tension with the civil rights, civil law could assures us various civil rights only. Yet, we should remember only the truth makes us free!
