Recently, Lars Gardfeldt, an openly homosexual priest in the Church of Sweden, has announced that he will not be conducting any weddings between heterosexual couples. The reason, of course, is to combat “homophobia” in the Church of Sweden. Now, some of you may be wondering, “Wait, I thought the Church of Sweden started conducting gay weddings years ago and was now moving beyond defending sodomy and was now defending genital mutilation?” You would be correct, as the Church of Sweden, uncoincidentally like the nation of Sweden, has gone hard in its embrace of Globohomo.
You see, though the Church of Sweden has allowed for homosexual weddings for years, they (along with the Swedish government) have, surprisingly, given an out to the few remaining orthodox pastors in the Church – individual pastors may decline to partake in homosexual wedding ceremonies. But, for Mr. Gardfelt, this is not enough, and is using the same powers he has to refuse to marry any heterosexual couples until this policy is changed. You read that right, he is not content with a Church that merely allows for gay weddings, he now wants to force the few remaining faithful to either commit sacrilege or leave the Church entirely. His demand shows it will never be enough.
As with many other religious bodies, the Church of Sweden was infiltrated badly with Marxists in the 1960s and has been failing Swedish Christians ever since. More to the point, this is decisive proof that it is incorrect that Christians will be left alone, as long as they just love their neighbor and stay out of politics. Since the 1960s, the Church of Sweden has been silent, or even supportive, of every bit of social leftism that has infested Sweden – from abortion to women priests to homosexuality to the Islamization of Sweden and now to transgenderism. The Swedish Church has been, at best, silent and, at worst, openly supportive. But, that was not enough and the gears are now running to soon go after what remains of the faithful. Yes, it is one pastor staging a protest now, but if you think it will stay that way I have some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you. Browsing through the secular news articles on this, the vast majority appear to be at least mildly supportive. Much as they lied when they told American Christians that they did not want to sue a baker for reusing to bake a cake, they lied when they told Swedish Christians that they would not go after individual pastors.
This is a culture war and there is no compromise in a culture war – you either win or your culture is occupied by an alien force that hates you and your ancestors. Remember, DOMA and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” were compromises as well, but they were reconstructed into elements of bigotry. Fulton Sheen was right when he said, “A religion that doesn’t interfere with the secular order will soon discover that the secular order will not refrain from interfering with it.” If there was any religious body on earth that had saved up enough good will to be left alone by Globohomo it would be the Church of Sweden, but that is not helping them in the slightest.
This is particularly important as it relates specifically to homosexuality because of the progress that can be seen here. Mr. Gardfeldt, as with all practicing homosexuals, is guilt-ridden because what he does violates natural law. It’s a long-standing problem. Back in the 1960s, homosexuals believed, perhaps sincerely, that all they had to do was stop the police raids and their guilt would go away. They got their wish and the police raids stopped, but their guilt remained. Thus, they were left with a choice: they could either repent or they could try and eliminate their guilt. They went with the latter option and embarked on a crusade whose stated goal was not merely to make homosexuality legal (either de facto or de jure) but also culturally acceptable, even praiseworthy. Each June we get strong proof that they succeeded in that goal. Still, their guilt remains. The only thing left for them to do now is to go after individuals, no matter how powerless, and destroy them. We are seeing that shift now, and it will likely only get worse.
Not only that this happened, but also the reaction from the media, is solid evidence just how far they will go. Any compromise made simply means they are biding their time. I can remember when the Church of Sweden allowed for homosexual marriages and this compromise was reached. It was seen as a good idea by all. However, just a few years later, that is no longer the case. What will happen?
If I had to guess, not much. I’m willing to bet my bottom dollar that what remains of the faithful clergy in Sweden are very old – they have given faithful young men no reason to join the Church in decades. And, they will soon all be dead. But, there are other religious bodies where that is not the case, very likely this is why the Church of Sweden is a test case. When the United Methodists (UMC) tried and failed to redefine marriage, they did have a clause protecting individual pastors, too. The UMC or any other body that makes such a compromise will soon find themselves in the same position as the remaining faithful in Sweden.
No compromise will ever be enough for globohomo or the Diversity Circus. We will either destroy them or they will destroy us.
I am formerly apriest in the Episcopal Church. The Church of Sweden is the one Lutheran church High Church Anglicans recognize as retaining Apostolic Succession and therefore is of special interest. It’s possession and stewardship of the nation’s historic religious institutions, including cathedrals and other landmarks, the language of the liturgy, and the first translations of Scripture into the native language are analogous to the position of the Church of England and, of all the American Protestant denominations, the Episcopal Church. Its decline is a mirror of our own and the celebration homosexuality is just one facet of that decline.
A decade ago in my own Episcopal diocese it became known—certainly to me— that any priest open about opposing same-sex marriage would not be appointed vicar, much less allowed to be on the slate of candidates for selection as rector (pastor). I had been ordained as a known pro-lifer, but the ascendant pro-gay faction was even less tolerant of principled disagreement than the pro-choice and pro-abortion people. (It is noteworthy that the majority gay parish was supportive of clergy who out of principle would not officiate at same-sex weddings. I presided at my last liturgy in the diocese at that parish. The activists and their “allies” in prosperous congregations were much angrier and eager to anathematize and drive out their perceived enemy.)
There are a few dioceses where that is not the case, but I am sure they are less and less as time passes. I cannot imagine anyone who can be accused of “homophobia” will be sponsored for seminary. It’s a sorrow for all of us that the one time official Church of much of the South, the Church that formed George Washington, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and so many other of our forefathers is going down the same path as the Church of Sweden. I have seen in my lifetime the squandering of that legacy close up but also in those times when the civic religion is or should be straight from the beautiful Book of Common Prayer—think of a state funeral at the National Cathedral or a service at St. Paul’s Chapel or Trinity, Wall Street in the aftermath of 9/11. Will the next occasion be be festooned in rainbow vestments and use a liturgy edited to eliminate the transcendent and amended to sacralize the oppressed—especially the blessed gays and the sainted transsexuals? When the Church of Sweden ceases to be Christian no other denomination will be able to fill that void in the culture and nation. I cannot see anything in Evangelicalism filling the now mostly vacated place of my native church in my native land. I am sad for the Christians of Sweden that their church has been taken over by these wolves in sheep’s clothing, just as I am torn apart by the spectacle of the Episcopal Church.
These people obviously don’t read their Bibles, or they simply decided to ignore Romans 1, among other warnings against sodomy. Woe be to them.