A new and quite insidious trend has been launched in some conservative circles, a trend that, unless it is stopped, will eat away at the foundation of conservatism like a cancer until the foundation rots away and the whole thing collapses.
This trend is the notion that one can be a practicing homosexual and a conservative at the same time. It’s impossible. Now it is certainly possible for a homosexual to hold conservative views on certain issues, and even defend them on talk shows, but it is not possible for him to be a conservative.
He, for instance, might be able to articulate a conservative view on national defense, or Second Amendment rights, or school choice, or repealing and replacing Obamacare. But he cannot be a conservative.
Why? Because at the center of conservatism is a non-negotiable view of human sexuality and the family. At the heart of a conservative view of the world lies the family. Not the individual, mind you, but the family. At the heart and soul of conservatism is the notion that marriage consists of one man and one woman and a family consists of a married father and mother and the children they conceive together through their love for each other.
The first command God gave to the very first human beings he created was to start a family: “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28b). God created one man and one woman at the dawn of time and designed them to be sexually complementary and productive in a way that is impossible for two men or two women.
In conservatism, the family is the cornerstone of civilized society. All the networks in a society—church, politics, business, education, law enforcement—are ultimately intended to serve the purposes and functions of the family. Churches are to nurture the spiritual lives of families, including challenging husbands and fathers to love their wives and their children as an expression of their love for God.
Lawmakers are to protect the family and parental rights and to craft policies, including tax policies that are friendly to family formation and not hostile to it. They are to support parental choice in education, so parents can place the children they love in an optimal learning environment. Educational systems are there to serve parents, not the other way around.
Businesses are to provide meaningful work that will enable fathers to provide for their families and will give wives and mothers a range of choices as they create a nurturing environment for their families. Law enforcement and the military that protect our nation are there to keep homes, neighborhoods and communities safe so that families can peacefully enjoy each other and their neighbors, free from the things that threaten their security and their peace of mind.
A prosperous society is founded upon the family. God created marriage before he created any other human institution. He created the family even before he created the church, and certainly before he created government. The natural family—a husband, a wife and the children they raise—is the bedrock of civilization. No one can be a conservative whose worldview does not place the family and the interests of the family at the center of his worldview.
Thus, there is no room in conservatism for the embrace of a lifestyle in which it is impossible for children to be conceived and brought into the world. There is no room in conservatism for the acceptance of sexual behavior which deviates so radically and dangerously from God’s design for intimacy. There is no room in conservatism for the embrace of a lifestyle which, as a matter of course, compromises human health through sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. To put it bluntly, sexual behavior that leads to anal cancer may represent a libertarian value, but it cannot possibly represent a conservative one.
If homosexuality is allowed an affirmed place in the conservative movement, it may seem harmless at first. But eventually, tolerated rather than excised, its cancerous cells will begin to quietly and yet inexorably multiply and metastasize until it has fatally weakened its host.
Should we love homosexuals? Absolutely. We should love them enough to tell them the truth about where their lifestyle leads, both in this life and the next. Should we make homosexuality any part of the conservative movement? Absolutely not. {eoa}
Bryan Fischer is host of the two-hour weekday “Focal Point” program on American Family Radio.
This article was originally published at AFA.net. Used with permission.
