I am horrified, as are many other people, by the news that
South Sudan (see correction in comments below...this is happening in North Sudan) has sentenced a woman to death, because she will not recant her
Christian faith. She is apparently
married to a Sudanese man, who is a Christian and who has US citizenship. Her father was Muslim, but left the family,
and she was raised by a Christian mother.
She has never practiced Islam herself, but is being accused of apostasy
for “leaving” Islam and adultery for being married to a Christian. She is pregnant with their second child.
Sitting here in the United States, this news seems
preposterous, barbaric and beyond comprehension. We have come to expect certain “rights.” As a Christian, I am also struck that Islamic
law, specifically Sharia law, demonstrates a horrible perversion of God’s
intent for a man and a woman. Islam and
Christianity, although calling Him by different names, share the idea that
there is one God who is creator and sustainer of the universe and to whom we
are responsible. Sharia law totally
ignores the notion that man and woman were created by that God to be mutually
supportive, to complement one another, and to work together to raise a family
and accomplish God’s purposes in the world.
I am in NO way defending Sharia and this totally repugnant
ruling in South Sudan.
But
As a Christian, I am struck with the horrible perversion of
God’s intent for a man and a woman that I see around me every day in our
culture. The fictional characters in the
media and real-life celebrities flaunt their sexual freedom making it seem like
it is “the norm.” Women and even young girls
come to believe it is acceptable to expose themselves in seductive attire. Lyrics of songs are blatantly sexual. The idea that one could be chaste and not
engage in sex until marriage is viewed as a ridiculous impossibility. What happened to God’ design for one man and
one woman to be faithful for a lifetime?
I am horrified by the young women I see having babies with multiple
partners. They jump into bed with a man
they don’t even really know. It doesn’t
seem to occur to them to develop a relationship first.
So, on the one side there is a culture in which women demand
the right to express themselves and expose themselves. On the other side is a culture of repression
that looks for ways to subjugate women to punish in excess, and to make women
property rather than human beings.
Both are perversions of God’s intent. His plan is for the relationship between a
man and a woman to conform to the immense love that Christ has for His bride….the
collective body of those who believe in Him.
He sacrificed His life for His bride.
She is to keep herself pure.
My heart grieves over what I see and hear in this world.
What must it do to God’s heart?
