Not only is homosexuality out of the closet in America, it is entirely out in the open and militantly demanding its recognition and acceptance. With political power far exceeding their numbers, homosexuals now feel greatly empowered with an openly supportive President in the White House. Whoever thinks this nation is still many years from collapse needs to think again.

Of course, the homosexual movement has been building for years, especially since the advent of AIDS and media sympathy for their cause. With the election of Bill Clinton (supported by 75% of homosexual voters), homosexuals feel they have "arrived"—in fact, many are calling this decade "the Gay '90s."

For a variety of reasons—the "politically correct" movement, the AIDS epidemic, massive financial assistance, media sympathy, etc.—the homosexual lobby has become "one of the most formidably professional forces in politics" (Economist, April 24, 1993, p. 26). In an unprecedented meeting on April 16, they officially lobbied the President in the Oval Office, but Bill Clinton, without being asked, offered an increase in the AIDS research budget and a federal AIDS czar. To this must be added the President's support of open homosexuals in the military, his promise of a gay civil rights law and his nomination of a lesbian politician, Roberta Achtenberg, as an assistant housing secretary (confirmed by the Senate, 58-31, on May 24).

Their support does not end in Washington. Eight states (California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Vermont and Wisconsin) and the District of Columbia have passed "gay-rights laws" of some form, protecting homosexuals against discrimination. Though only 1% of American males are gay and 54% of Americans disapprove of the homosexual lifestyle and 70% do not want them in the military, newspapers across the country devoted multiple pages in support of the April 24 homosexual march on the nation's capital, treating it as a civil rights story. They also avoided using photographs of topless lesbians, sadomasochistic groups and other offensive marchers, instead portraying it as a group of "Gap-wearing middle-managers having a day out" (Economist, May 15, 1993, p. 26).

The homosexual agenda is distressing, but more frightening is that they are likely to get what they ask for in time. They want legal marriages of same-sex partners, adoption by gay couples, national health-care benefits for AIDS patients, federal reimbursement for hate crimes against them, hiring quotas by sexual preference and federally mandated "alternative lifestyle" education in the public schools. These demands go far beyond making condoms available in public schools, immoral in its own right.

God's View

God, without mixing words, judges, "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination" (Leviticus 18:22; cf. 20:13). Paul includes lesbianism in the condemnation: "For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature" (Romans 1:26). Later in I Corinthians 6:9, to make our understanding absolutely clear, he writes that neither "homosexuals, nor sodomites" will inherit the Kingdom of God (cf. Jude 7).

In each of the three instances in the Old Testament where homosexuality is shown in society, destruction immediately follows. The city of Sodom gave its name to this vile practice, and has served as the preeminent example of God's displeasure (Genesis 18:20-21; 19:1-29). The two lesser-known cases also show that a rise in homosexuality signals a quick decline and fall.

During the period of the Judges, the tribe of Benjamin was nearly exterminated because of a horrifying incident that began with this perverse sin (Judges 19-21). When the fighting was over, only six hundred Benjamite men remained alive, and their cities and all their wealth were destroyed. It is a reasonable assumption that homosexuality was not confined to Benjamin among the tribes of Israel. If so, this may explain the astounding losses suffered by the other tribes (Judges 20:18-25).

Later, in the reign of Rehoboam of Judah, the Bible records, "And there were also perverted persons in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel" (I Kings 14:24). "Perverted persons" is a translation of the Hebrew qedeshim, meaning "those practicing sodomy and prostitution in religious rituals" (marginal note). The next verses reveal the result of their sin: Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt marched against Judah and conquered Jerusalem, carrying away all the treasures of the Temple and the royal house (verses 25-26).

Ripe for Disaster

A little recognized principle is found at the end of Leviticus 18, headed in the New King James as "Laws of Sexual Morality":

You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who sojourns among you (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. (verses 26-28)

Because of man's lawlessness, this law of the universe has too often gone into effect. As a law of an impartial God, it will soon descend upon the nations of Israel in the form of "a nation of fierce countenance" (Deuteronomy 28:49-50). It is only a matter of time.

When a nation descends into perversions like homosexuality, its decline accelerates, its fibers weaken and it becomes ripe for disaster, either natural or political/military. If the leadership of a nation participates in these perversions, the immorality spreads like a cancer among the people, accelerating the collapse. The leaders, already perverted personally, make immoral and unwise decisions regarding the nation's direction and conditions grow worse (cf. Romans 1:26-32; II Timothy 3:13).

Knowing the nation's destruction is so near, Christians have a responsibility to "sigh and cry over all the abominations" (Ezekiel 9:4), preparing for the time when we will rule with Christ in a just and holy government (Revelation 5:10; I Peter 2:9; I Corinthians 6:2-3). Fortunately, God has made provision for homosexuals to repent, maybe not now but in the resurrection, if their minds have not been totally perverted (II Peter 3:9; I Timothy 2:4; 4:2; Hebrews 10:26-31).

So much the more reason to beseech God, "Your Kingdom come!"