Some may not believe that the LGBT Issue is not one of Spiritual Warfare, make no mistake, it is.
When engaging the culture, one must be careful to claim that these newfangled ideas are somehow new. As the teacher in the first chapter of Ecclesiastes said:
“ 9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.”
Gender ideology as it stands before us today, is not new in essence. The idea that man can alter what God has fundamentally ordained, is an ancient lie that has taken many forms. In the case of Critical Gender Theory, we are simply seeing a revitalization of ancient barbarism in the guise of modernity.
To best understand this, who is Ashtoreth? Who is the Queen of Heaven from the Bible? Well, we can find references to her in Genesis 14:5, Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-19 and 44:25, 1 Kings 11:5, as well as many other places. What did worshiping Ashtoreth entail?
Historians are at odds on this, but Herodutus claimed that: “...every Babylonian woman had to attend the temple of Ishtar/Inanna and agree to sex with any male that asked her. Once she performed this ritual, the male visitor gave her money to donate to the temple.”
Asherah also had the ability to, according to her priestess: “‘To destroy, to create, to tear out, to establish are yours, Inanna. / To turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man are yours, Inanna.'
According to an article from acadaemuseducation.co.uk: “
In fact, individuals living outside of the gender binary were heavily involved and associated with the cult of Inanna, and her cult members and priests were known for their androgyny and blurring or destroying the gender binary. The gender-blurring members of her cult have often been included in poems and dedications written for her, often with Inanna personally transforming the gender of her devotees. One such example is the pilipili, a group of cultic performers in Inanna's Sumerian festivals. The name pilipili is referenced within Passionate Inanna (80-90) in relation to an individual named pilipili who is transformed by Inanna. They are raised as a woman, the Sumerian for young woman (ki-sikil) being used to describe them, and Inanna blesses them, handing them a spear ‘as if she were a man' and renames them ‘pilipili'. From this point forward they are referred to as ‘the transformed pilipili'.
We cannot know for sure what the word ‘transformation' means in this context, and especially since Sumerian did not use gendered pronouns it is difficult to reconstruct the exact meaning, but one interpretation is that through the blessings of Inanna, the pilipili transitioned into a man. Even if Sumerian did not use gendered pronouns, the possible phallic connotations of the word ‘spear' add more weight to this theory.”
In a poem from an archeological find in Southern Turkey someone wrote: "... may the god Hadad dash him into pieces with the weapon which is in his hand; may Hebat-Ishtar shatter his spear; may Ishtar deliver him into the hands of those who pursue him; may Ishtar... impress feminine parts into his male parts."
This goddess also had her cultists perform “gender conversions” in other works. How is this different from today? These articles even reference these barbaric practices as “much like our own society today.” It is not a slippery slope argument for us to say that we are headed towards Neo-Paganism, we are in a defacto Neo-Pagan society.
How does this affect the church? Well, what have many denominations done with the LGBT idea? From Pew Research in 2015:
“Many of the largest U.S. religious institutions have remained firmly against allowing same-sex marriage, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Jewish movement and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as the Southern Baptist Convention and other evangelical Protestant denominations. The nation's largest historically black church, the National Baptist Convention, and its biggest Pentecostal denomination, the Assemblies of God, also prohibit their clergy from marrying same-sex couples.
At the same time, in the past two decades, several other religious groups also have moved to allow same-sex couples to marry within their traditions. This includes the Reform and Conservative Jewish movements, the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ.”
In the Episicpol and Methodist denominations, we see a growing acceptance of sin in the guise of kindness as well.
“...many United Methodists in the United States have a more accepting view toward homosexuality. In Pew Research Center's 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study, 60% of United Methodists said homosexuality should be accepted by society – a clear majority, and a substantial increase from 2007, when 51% said this. In addition, about half of U.S. Methodists (49%) said they favored legal same-sex marriage.” -Pew Research
What have we done in these churches? Is this actually loving? Why are we afraid to speak out against this self destructive behavior? These are questions that we should be asking ourselves as Christians. Are we apathetic to God's Law? If so, how can we be on fire for the Gospel?
So, in your day to day interactions with friends and family, some notes to carry with a loving winsome attitude:
Gender Theory is nothing new and has been around since shortly after Noah got off of the Ark
Sexual and Body Dysmorphia have alarming psychological consequences and are typically rooted in deeper trauma
True fulfillment can only be found in the role that your Creator made for you. Accept nothing less.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/12/21/where-christian-churches-stand-on-gay-marriage/
https://www.academuseducation.co.uk/post/ancient-mesopotamian-transgender-and-non-binary-identities
"Sacred Marriage and Sacred Prostitution in Ancient Mesopotamia" History on the Net
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October 26, 2022 <https://www.historyonthenet.com/sacred-marriage-and-sacred-prostitution-in-ancient-mesopotamia>