{"id":361,"date":"2010-11-12T16:42:20","date_gmt":"2010-11-12T21:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/returntorome\/?p=361"},"modified":"2015-03-13T13:30:15","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T17:30:15","slug":"the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/returntorome\/2010\/11\/the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

That is the title of my most recent column at The Catholic Thing<\/a>. Here\u2019s how it begins:<\/p>\n

\n

Things are going to slide, slide in all directions
\nWon\u2019t be nothing
\nNothing you can measure anymore
\nThe blizzard, the blizzard of the world
\nhas crossed the threshold
\nand it has overturned
\nthe order of the soul\u2026.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Leonard Cohen (\u201cThe Future,\u201d 1992)<\/p>\n

These amazing lyrics by Leonard Cohen came to mind after my friend, Lydia McGrew, brought to my attention a court case in the United Kingdom. It concerns Eunice and Owen Johns, a Pentecostal<\/a> Christian couple, who were rejected as foster parents by a panel of the Derby City Council. They were not rejected because they were child abusers, unstable, or lacked the requisite skills or background. In fact, according to\u00a0one account<\/span><\/a>, the couple has already been foster parents to twenty children.<\/p>\n

The Johns were denied foster children because they believe that human sexuality has a certain intrinsic purpose that may only be consummated by one man and one woman within the confines of matrimony, and that it is their responsibility to properly instruct the children in their care of this truth.\u00a0This, of course, entails that non-marital sex, including homosexual conduct, is immoral. But as we have come to realize in these post-modern times, sex is merely an act between consenting adults while a moral judgment\u00a0about<\/em> consensual sex is not an act in which consenting adults may engage, especially if they do so while congregating under a cross on Sunday mornings. Because the Johns could not in good conscience embrace this secular shibboleth, they were denied by their community an opportunity to love and care for vulnerable children who would benefit from their selfless charity.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0Mrs. Johns\u2019 account<\/span><\/a>, \u201cThe council said: \u2018Do you know, you would have to tell them that it\u2019s OK to be homosexual?\u2019 But I said I couldn\u2019t do that because my Christian beliefs won\u2019t let me. Morally, I couldn\u2019t do that. Spiritually I couldn\u2019t do that.\u201d And for this reason, the council declared that the Johns were no longer fit to be foster parents. This is why last week they found themselves before the British High Court.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

>>>Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That is the title of my most recent column at The Catholic Thing. Here\u2019s how it begins: Things are going to slide, slide in all directions Won\u2019t be nothing Nothing you can measure anymore The blizzard, the blizzard of the world has crossed the threshold and it has overturned the order of the soul\u2026. \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,109,146],"tags":[22244,245],"class_list":["post-361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-politics","category-the-catholic-thing","tag-politics","tag-united-kingdom"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Future<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"That is the title of my most recent column at The Catholic Thing. 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