But...I AM right

"You think you're right and everybody else is wrong. You're so arrogant." -- these are the words that are spoken to me on an almost daily basis by a good classmate of mine. We often end up in lunch table discussions over political or philosophical issues (rarely started by me, might I add). It seems like the two of us have entirely different views on absolutely everything ranging from belief in God, to whether or not the school's hotdogs really are made out of green fungus. It also seems, however, that everytime I try to defend my views against his, the above quote gets thrown at me out of anger, often accompanied by some mild profanity or obscene gesture.

So, I think that I'm right and that everybody else is wrong? Well, quite frankly, "duh." I mean, if one did not believe that one's opinions were correct on an issue, why hold any opinion at all on an issue? My response to my friend's often angry semi-relativism often runs something along the lines of, "Well, you think that you're right too and that I'm wrong, otherwise we would not be here discussing this." It is true. If a person did not believe himself to be correct, why would he have a firm opinion on anything?

There are some things that I know to be absolutely, one-hundred percent correct. For instance, I know that there is a God who created the world and created me, and has an ultimate plan for my life. I also know, though, that I have free will -- I have the ability to chose between right and wrong, following God's path or not following. I know that abortion destroys an innocent life, and is very comparable to the Jewish Holocaust. In addition to this, I also know that homosexuality is wrong -- it is not an "alternate lifestyle" and it is not how people are born. I know many more things that are absolutely correct as well, but this is just a small sampling of them.

So what's the point of all this? I think that the world is trying to tear down our beliefs and our moral foundations by throwing out labels like "arrogant" or "intolerant." They try to make us feel bad. If you say that it is wrong for gay people to be involved in a homosexual relationship, you are labeled a "hatemonger" -- "hate is NOT a family value" as one bumper sticker reads. In response to this, Christians tend to back away from such "controversial" issues because they want to be loved by everybody. Might I remind you that God's word tells us we will be hated for His namesake. It's not being "arrogant," it's merely recognizing the sin that is present in the world.

I do not exempt myself from any of this, however. I admit, at times I can come across as very overbearing. It is something I am trying to work on. However, we should not back away from what we know is right and wrong merely because some other human tells us he or she is offended at what we are saying. GOD says that homosexuality is wrong, not me -- I didn't make that rule, go read the Bible. If people are offended by the very things that God Himself says, why should we in any way attempt to appease their "hurt feelings" -- who are we to go out and apologize to them?

The band Demon Hunter has an amazing song off of their album The Triptych about this very subject. The title is "Relentless Intolerance." The name pretty much says it all. The song calls for Christians to stand firm for the things they believe in and not give in when "the foundations that we used to uphold" are "regarded as the madness of old." Right is still right and wrong is still wrong. Who are we to change that?

~Tribal