Indiana Straw Man

A "straw man" is defined as "a weak or imaginary argument or opponent that is set up to be easily defeated."

It seems like the best concept to introduce when attempting to address the hysteria surrounding Religious Freedom Restoration Act that was signed into law in Indiana last week.

Now, with Arkansas passing a similar law today, we need to take time to see through the absurdities and look at what this is really all about.

It's easy to get people to hate a law when it is characterized as "a license to discriminate" (particularly against homosexuals), and boy do people hate it.  Companies have already announced they are not coming to Indiana, the NCAA has expressed concern about its continued presence there, a liberal church denomination has decided to change the venue of its upcoming convention to a different state, and now the governor of New York is placing some sort of restriction on travel to Indiana for state employees.  #BoycottIndiana has been trending on Twitter for days.

How could anyone stand for such an odious law? 

The answer is that no one can and no one will, because the law as it is being portrayed is a myth.  It does not exist.  It is a straw man.

In a recent post on my personal blog, I expressed concern that the current political/news climate of our country is turning us into a nation of what the Bible calls fools.  In the Bible, fools are people who make no attempt at understanding but will angrily air their own opinions.  This post is an attempt to help us really understand what is going on here.

United Kingdom, part 6: Solomon's Fall

How could the man the Bible calls the wisest man who ever lived become a fool?  By reversing the attitudes that brought him blessing and not following his own advice.  Nothing replaces obedience.

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United Kingdom, part 5: Solomon's Blessing

If God appeared to you and told you to ask him for anything, what would you ask for? 

That's exactly what happened to young King Solomon.  This week, we examined his response and the blessing from God that followed.

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United Kingdom, part 4: Rebuilding a Legacy

David's sin had brought disaster on his life, but his legacy would not be his sin but the psalms he wrote, the temple he planned, and the Christ that would come from his line. How do we recover from sin? How can we get a new start? Let's learn from David...

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United Kingdom, part 3: Absalom's Rebellion

This week, we looked at the epic story of how David met the full consequence for his sin when his son Absalom led a rebellion against him.

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United Kingdom, part 2: House of Calamity

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you...’”

—2 Samuel 12:11

 

The path to the fulfillment of Nathan's prophecy against David was a long and painful one.  God's hand of protection was lifted, and all David's mistakes came to their full consequences.  If we look honestly at our lives, we find that, as the psalmist says in Psalm 103:10, God does not treat us as our sins deserve.  But there comes a time of discipline or judgment when sin leads to its inevitable deadly destination.  In this painful story of sexual assault and murder among siblings, we see how unchecked sin brings destruction.