Persecution Gets Personal in Eastern Oregon

The homosexual socio-political agenda rolls on, even in the far corner of Eastern Oregon, in the little town of La Grande, a mere 45 miles from where I live.

I was greeted by this story in the local paper the other day:

Mayor Apologizes for Anti-Gay Facebook Posts

La Grande Mayor Daniel Pokorney stood up in front of a crowd of about 150 people Monday and did a difficult thing. He admitted he was wrong. And he said he was sorry.

Mayor Dan Pokorney

Except that he wasn't wrong. This is getting pretty close to home.

As I mentioned, I live only 45 miles away. I know Dan Pokorney personally. He’s an instituted acolyte for the La Grande parish, has served as the local Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus, and is the chairman of the Union County chapter of Oregon Right to Life. He wears many other hats around the parish, too. The newspaper story goes on to say:

In one of his Facebook posts, Pokorney called Washington State the “latest state to transition to Sodom and Gomorrah,” and in another, he criticized New Jersey for continuing what he called the “abomination of same sex unions.”

It is an abomination. And because I know Dan loves his Catholic faith, I’m sad that he felt pressured to issue an apology for speaking the truth. I wish he had not.

But I am not standing in Dan’s shoes.

More of the story:

Much of the subsequent outcry came from members of Eastern Oregon University’s Gay-Straight Alliance…On Monday, EOU President Bob Davies issued an open letter, saying students had asked for a meeting with the mayor, and that Pokorney had agreed.

…As the forum got under way at Huber, Davies urged civility, as did Megan Baker, the president of the Gay-Straight Alliance.

“I want to hear both sides of the story before I come to judgment,” Baker said.

So…the president of the Gay-Straight Alliance is permitted to “judge”?! I thought no one was supposed to be “judgmental”. I guess that proscription goes only one way.

The story also mentions that

  

The word “hate” cropped up several times as the meeting progressed. 

In his apology, Dan said:

 “I don’t hate anyone. My intent was not to be hurtful, but to express myself on important issues.”

But this was not hateful. It is not hateful to call sin what it is: an abomination, just as Dan said. It is not hateful to warn people that they are approaching a steep cliff and that they might fall off and die. That is not hate. And it is not hateful to say that homosexual behavior is wrong, sinful, an abomination. That is the truth, and knowing it and understanding it can save a soul from going to hell.

"Hate" is what is happening to the fourteen-year-old girl who also spoke out about the wrongness of “gay marriage” and is receiving death threats from those very people who preach tolerance. That’s hate. And it is not coming from the girl!

I haven’t had any personal conversation with Dan Pokorney about his situation. I don’t know what kind of pressure was brought to bear on him. I do know that the homosexual agenda-pushers are pretty darn good at guilt tripping people over political correctness…even in Eastern Oregon. And Dan is a political figure, being the mayor of the city and all.

I admit that I am tempted to think that I would never have capitulated. I would not have apologized for speaking the truth! No, not me! I would stand firm!

How easy it is for me to think that! How easy it is for me to say it!

But I am not standing in Dan’s shoes.

And this is not a criticism of Dan Pokorney.

Instead, I look at Dan Pokorney's predicament and I think: There, but for the grace of God, go I.

It’s a lesson to me. It says we must intensify our efforts to fortify ourselves against the coming present persecution. Things are going to get worse before they get better, I suspect.

We must know our faith, and we must not yield to the god of public opinion. We’re not used to that. Self-mortification is a key element in preparing to be persecuted.

It’s Lent. It’s a good time to practice self-mortification.

Pray. Fast.