George O. Wood heard Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel loud and clear when he said that “Chick-fil-A’s values are not Chicago values.”
The general superintendent of the General Council of the Assemblies of God now has a rapid-fire series of questions for Emanuel and any other mayor who may be tempted to follow in his footsteps.
“Are you saying that the Catholics are also unwelcome in Chicago because they don’t have Chicago values? That evangelicals aren’t welcome? That Muslims aren’t welcome? That Orthodox Jewish people are not welcome?
“That other persons who have religious beliefs that marriage is between a man and a woman don’t have Chicago values and therefore they are excluded from your community? Do you intend to discriminate against persons of faith? Do you intend to marginalize them? Are you becoming, in your view, intolerant of persons of religious faith?
Wood believes these are all important questions for the public square. As he sees it, the push to characterize anyone who has convictions about personal marriage as bigoted is itself bigotry on display.
“We are in the middle of a massive decision in this country as to whether we are going to embrace a path toward total secularism which marginalizes people of faith, or whether people of faith and other persons of good will are going to rally to the side of those who hold to the moral and religious values that have made this country what it is,” Wood says.
Indeed, Wood says the United States is at a watershed moment. At this time, he says it’s still up in the air as to which side is going to prevail. He’d like to see Christians be alert to the moment and mobilize for morals.
“Christians have a choice in this upcoming election, whether they are going to put their moral values ahead of everything else. There’s been so much talk about the economy and that’s understandable when you are hurting financially,” Wood says.
“But if the culture shifts and we become Western Europe replayed where religion is out of fashion, so to speak, then we are headed for moral chaos in this country and decline. Christians in this country have to come to an understanding of where they are with regard to the moral issues of our day—issues that relate to life and issues that relate to sexuality.”
