Christian opponents of marriage equality have finally expressed a sufficient response to same-sex marriage made legal in all fifty states of the U.S. Some important leaders have surprisingly not used a more apocalyptic and disapproving tone on this matter. Franklin Graham criticized Supreme Court’s decision of Obergefell v. Hodges. He made jokes about a global flood in the book of Genesis that occurred due to result of gay pride and God’s judgment colliding.
Carey Nieuwhof, writer of the article ‘Making the rounds’, and Lead Pastor of the evangelical Connexus Church located north of Toronto, Canada, where same-sex marriage has been legal since 2005; advised his U.S. counterparts. He pinpoints that for most of the last 2000 years the authentic church has opposed the social culture. He adds that regardless of the religious position, all views as a Christian are opposing prevailing cultures and will remain that way. He also, feels that being like that generally helps the church more than it hurts it. He thinks that if one’s perception is cultural then he has not read the scriptures thoroughly.
This message still remains in the minds of American evangelicals. Jennifer A. Marshall, suggested that Christians reflect counter-culture resolve on marriage in the arrival of its legislature; while writing for The Gospel Coalition, a fellowship of conservative evangelical churches. She adds that the church should visualize itself as a counter-culture formation, one that “will take intentional worldview formation, and witnessing it in practice among a community of believers to help the next generation navigate this brave new world.” This may seem compelling to the researchers of the faith but, the fact is that Christianity as a whole hasn’t been “countercultural” for a very long time despite the nostalgic longings for the ‘authentic church’.
The Supreme Court’s decision agrees with both sides in this matter. Justices Antonin Scalia’s and John Robert’s rebellious dispute makes sense only if one has expects marriage to be traditional but, even the majority opinion relies on a rather commonplace Christian logic to make its point. The decision and the reaction, everything does not really indicate that Christianity is not counter-cultural. There is, as is the case with most religious traditions. It is not clear to what lengths supporters of a countercultural Christianity really desire it as such. Many serious attacks on wealth and the family have not been witnessed. Although many of these were witnessed in Jesus’ own counterculture of the kingdom of God (see, for instance, Luke 18:18-30).
When what is at stake is admission to basic social institutions that tend to be exclusionary, there is no virtue in being countercultural. Christianity contain within itself lines of thought and practice that can be conceived as critical of socio-cultural trends and institutions, when it is in its best, it moves along with justice and involves what was excluded earlier. Whether, or not the institution is perfect.
