Letters to the Supreme Court

Episode 11

Dear Chief Justice Silverstein:

Greetings.

Those in the homosexual movement as well as some on the liberal/progressive side of the aisle have used the idea that there is no real difference between the genders as a way of influencing public and judicial opinion to support same-sex marriage. They say, "What's the difference between a man and a woman who love each other and want to spend the rest of their life with each other and two men or two women who love each other and want to spend the rest of their life with each other?" Some have even suggested that if the Supreme Court allows for the legalization of same-sex marriage, those churches and other institutions that refuse to  recognize such unions would be charged with "gender discrimination." (And some have noted that, since the federal government bans gender discrimination, the government would be obligated to act — with police force if necessary — to stop such "discrimination".)

I will address the idea of gender difference in this letter from a Biblical perspective.

Is there really a difference between the genders? Are men and women interchangeable?

The Bible says in Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." The specification in these verses indicates deliberate difference. God purposefully created two different genders — not two similar genders; not two of the same kind. This specificity is further shown in the two differing accounts of the creation of the first man and woman. The first man was shaped from the dust of the ground. The first woman was shaped from a rib of the man.

The Bible indicates that God made the first woman, Eve, because something was missing in the life of the first man, Adam. Genesis 2:18 reads, "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." The word "meet" means "suitable." If God was to supply what was missing in Adam's life, he could not have made another human of the same kind (another male just like Adam), for that male would have had the same void in his life as Adam did in his. Adam would not have been fulfilled. Thus, God made a female — another human of a different kind. "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh [clearly human]: she shall be called Woman [but also clearly different], because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man [a male] leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife [a female]: and they shall be one flesh."

The man and the woman were made differently and they were named differently. Neither could replace the other. They were complete together, a holy union designed and approved by God. God's will for humanity can only be carried out through the union of a male and a female — two different kinds coming together as one. (Think of a battery: A battery has a positive side and a negative side. Those two sides working together are what provide power to a flashlight or any other electronic device. Two positive sides together or two negative sides together won't work.)

Male and female bodies are compatible sexually, and it is by this natural union that children are conceived. If God had intended for the human race to continue through offspring coming from homosexual unions, He would have made that possible. (As such, He did not even leave it as an option. He did not make it so that both heterosexual and homosexual unions could produce children.)

Some have said that this "Old Testament" view is outdated — that a new era calls for a new interpretation of Scripture. However, if we look at the New Testament, we see that Jesus Christ and the Apostles backed the view that the genders are different and not interchangeable.

In Matthew 19, Jesus said, "Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?" The Apostle Paul also quoted Adam when he said in Ephesians 5, "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh."

God designed the different genders — male and female — and society can only continue with these boundaries remaining clear and distinct. In my next letter, I will look at some of the effects that will come about if we allow our society to continue to blur the lines of the Biblically-based distinction of the genders.

Respectfully yours,

Michael Elderson