This system of things molds people in a variety of ways. LGBTQ and gender identity choices have been heavily popularized lately in this system of
things, so you see an increase in people making these choices. Add to that the lie that people 'are born that way', and you see further increase. "The
god of this system of things" also likes to promote any attitude, behaviour, ideology and opinions/ideas/philosophies that work against God's will and
instructions for mankind (“for your own good”, see
Isa 48:17,18,
ftn.) or are contrary to God's teachings. With that in mind and thinking about LGBTQ, "the god of this system of things" also likes to promote pride
(and then you get pride parades, or people taking pride in being this or that, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or queer, or being creative with gender
identity). Likewise, you also see a lot of racial pride (black pride, white pride, Latino pride, Asian pride, etc.), nationalistic pride (patriotism
and nationalism, worship of the state, adoration, veneration or even worship of the flag of a nation, an idol as the term is used in the Bible, so
this is promotion of idolatry, again something that works contary to God's will and instructions), pride about one's careers or accomplishments, etc.
And then you have people taking pride in being liberal, progressive, or as depicted in the South Park episode about smugness, having hybrid or
electrical cars, convinced they care about the environment (if they go along with whatever is being marketed in the area of "green energy"; regardless
of its actual impact on the environment in comparison to alternatives and while the biggest polluters can continue polluting the environment and all
attention is drawn away from them).
This is why the Bible gives the following advice:
“And stop being molded by this system of things,* [ Or “this age.”] but be transformed by making your mind over, so that you may prove to
yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)
And just to show where I was quoting the expression "the god of this system of things" from:
“If, in fact, the good news we declare is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, among whom
the god of this system of things has
blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the illumination* [Or “light.”] of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of
God, might not shine through. For we are preaching, not about ourselves, but about Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’
sake. For God is the one who said: “Let the light shine out of darkness,” and he has shone on our hearts to illuminate them with the glorious
knowledge of God by the face of Christ.” (2 Cor 4:3-6)
Proverbs 16:18,19
Pride is before a crash,
And a haughty spirit before stumbling.
19 Better to be humble* [Lit., “lowly of spirit.”] among the meek
Than to share the spoil of the haughty.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,
boastful, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, having no natural affection, not open to any agreement,
slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, betrayers, headstrong, puffed up with pride, lovers of pleasures rather
than lovers of God, having an appearance of godliness but proving false to its power; and from these turn away.
Those are the things the god of this system of things likes to promote and mold people with. Getting people to be more interested in satisfying their
desire for fleshly pleasures is another big one affecting the LGBTQ (+gender identity) crowd (not that they're the only ones), Galatians 6:7-10 calls
it "sowing with a view to [the] flesh" (this also counts for greed and materialism, as the term is used in Maddona's song: "I'm a material girl",
where the focus lies on acquiring material possessions, sowing with a view to the flesh).
“For there will be a period of time when they will not put up with the wholesome* [Or “healthful; beneficial.”] teaching, but
according to
their own desires, they will surround themselves with teachers to have their ears tickled.* [Or “to tell them what they want to hear.”] They
will turn away from listening to the truth and give attention to false stories.” (2 Timothy 4:3,4) (such as the false story/myth: 'born that
way')
Jesus said: “Stop storing up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal. Rather, store
up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21) Verse 24 says: “No one can slave for two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the
other, or he will stick to the one and despise the other. You cannot slave for God and for Riches.” (or for satisfying one's fleshly desires and
pleasures for that matter)
As you can probably see from my comment, I would not agree with the statement that it is an unexplained phenomenon. It actually has already been
explained a long time ago (when these things were written in the Bible). Here's another one that explains why people see these things (pride,
LGBTQ+gender identity stuff, materialism or sowing with a view to the flesh, patriotism and nationalism, etc.) as a 'good' thing (or at least harmless
and not bad or evil/wicked):
“Woe to those who say that good is bad and bad is good,
Those who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness,
Those who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those wise in their own eyes
And discreet in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20,21)
Keep in mind, hate is not always bad, love is not always good. It depends on what you hate or love whether or not it's a good thing, or a bad
thing.
“Let your love be without hypocrisy. Abhor [hate] what is wicked; cling to [love] what is good.” (Romans 12:9) (quite tricky when you have those
around doing what is described at Isaiah 5:20, turning the situation upside down, good is then painted as bad, and bad as good; this all plays into
the hand/cards of "the god of this system of things" "who is misleading the entire inhabited earth", Rev. 12:9)
Proverbs 8:13
The fear of Jehovah means the hating of bad.
I hate self-exaltation and pride and the evil way and perverse speech.
Romans 12:21
Do not let yourself be conquered by the evil, but keep conquering the evil with the good.
Just to be clear, making fun of those in the LGBTQ+ community, is bad. It tends to lead to bullying and harm (and the accompanying hatred for people
whose choices one doesn't agree with; often without looking in the mirror to see what might be wrong/bad there). So what the Westboro Baptist Church
is doing with all the anti-gay signs they hold up at some protests or wherever they are gathering on the street for some attention, is
bad/wicked/evil. It is part of the 'divide and conquer' tactic that "the god of this system of things" and "ruler of this world" (Joh 12:31) likes to
use, pushing the buttons of hatred, pride and fear on both sides (or all sides). Giving rise to strife. A common occurance on ATS as well (strife). 1
Timothy 6:3-5:
If any man teaches another doctrine and does not agree with the wholesome instruction, which is from our Lord Jesus Christ, nor with the teaching
that is in harmony with godly devotion, he is puffed up with pride and does not understand anything. He is obsessed with arguments and debates
about words. These things give rise to envy, strife, slander, wicked suspicions, constant disputes about minor matters by men who are
corrupted in mind and deprived of the truth, thinking that godly devotion is a means of gain.edit on 25-2-2024 by whereislogic because:
(no reason given)