【時事新聞】六月是生命月，不是驕傲月

六月是生命月，不是驕傲月 June Is Life Month, Not Pride Month

歐文·斯特拉坎 Owen Strachan

May 31, 2023

英文原文：https://washingtonstand.com/commentary/psa-june-is-life-month-not-pride-month

You make known to me the path of life… (Psalm 16:11)

你使我知道生命的道路......（詩篇16：11）。

For many in America today, the advent of June signals the beginning of what has been labeled 「Pride Month」 by the activist Left. Originally linked to what is called the 「Stonewall Uprising,」 Pride Month symbolizes glowing affirmation of LGBTQ identity.

對今天美國的許多人來說，六月的到來標誌著被左翼活動家稱為「驕傲月」的開始。驕傲月最初與所謂的「石牆暴動」有關，象徵著對LGBTQ身份的肯定。

All June long, corporations and cultural institutions practically trip over themselves to promote their involvement in Pride Month, putting many Christians (or people who simply hold to a traditional sexual ethic) in difficult spots. When we try to watch a show at the end of a workday, our entertainment platforms drive us to Pride Month content. When buying a tube of toothpaste at our local big-box store, Pride Month displays greet us. When we watch sports, teams wear rainbow patches to celebrate Pride Month. The celebration of LGBTQ identity feels ubiquitous, and belies the claim that our public square is 「neutral」 and closed to assertive worldviews.

整個6月，企業和文化機構幾乎都在努力宣傳他們對「驕傲月」的參與，使許多基督徒（或只是堅持傳統性倫理的人）陷入困境。當我們試圖在工作日結束時看一個節目時，我們的娛樂平台會把我們帶到驕傲月的內容。當我們在當地的大賣場買一管牙膏時，驕傲月的展示牌在迎接我們。當我們看體育比賽時，球隊會佩戴彩虹貼片來慶祝驕傲月。對LGBTQ*身份的慶祝感覺無處不在，並掩蓋了我們的公共廣場是「中立的」和對堅定的世界觀關閉的說法。

*LGBTQ 個英文縮寫，LGBTQ是五個英文單字的總稱，分別是：女同性戀者（Lesbian）、男同性戀者（Gay）、雙性戀者（Bisexual）與跨性別者（Transgender）、 酷兒（Queer）的英文首字母縮略字。

From many angles, the entire tone of June in America has shifted. It is one of aggressive approval of a heart attitude that the Word of God rebukes in no uncertain terms: pride. To be proud in one’s natural instincts and desires is to go against God at full velocity. It is to put oneself under certain threat of eternal judgment. Sin, after all, is at base nothing other than pride — it is choosing one’s way over God’s way, and one’s instinctual desires over God’s eternal truth. How we Christians should tremble and pray for all who exult in Pride Month. How we should reach out to them, and proclaim Christ in love to fellow sinners just like us.

從許多角度來看，美國六月的整個基調已經發生了變化。這是對一種心態的積極認可，上帝的話語毫不含糊地斥責了這種心態：驕傲。在一個人的自然本能和慾望中感到驕傲，就是在全速地與上帝對抗。這是將自己置於永恆的審判的威脅之下。畢竟，罪的本質不外乎是驕傲——它是選擇自己的方式而不是上帝的方式，選擇本能的慾望而不是上帝的永恆的真理。我們基督徒應該如何為所有在驕傲月中歡呼的人顫抖和祈禱。我們應該如何向他們伸出援手，在愛中向和我們一樣的罪人同伴宣揚基督。

But we should not stop there. We have our own cause to celebrate in June. Our cause, quite simply, is life. In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, the devastatingly inhumane court decision that since 1973 has enabled the destruction of millions upon millions of children. In the long annals of public jurisprudence, one can scarcely find a more wicked measure than Roe. Yet in his all-wise providence, God saw fit to strike Roe down right in the middle of Pride Month. What a rebuke! What an otherworldly intervention.

但我們不應就此止步。我們在六月有我們自己的理由來慶祝。我們的事業，很簡單，就是生命。2022年6月，美國最高法院推翻了羅伊訴韋德案，這一毀滅性的不人道的法院裁決自1973年以來使數百萬的兒童被毀滅。在漫長的公共法學史上，人們幾乎找不到比羅伊案更邪惡的措施。然而，在他全能的天意中，上帝認為適合在「驕傲月」的中推翻羅伊訴韋德案。這是多麼強烈的責備！這是多麼超凡的介入！

It’s hard to underplay just how shocking this development was and is. News of the coming overturning of Roe started leaking in early May 2022. Personally, I happened to be flying into D.C. for FRC meetings just as this news broke. It seemed too wonderful to be true: the most monstrously evil decision in modern American history was going to be struck down? The night after word got out, FRC staffer David Closson and I went to the Supreme Court. The tone was one of rage as countless young men and women protested the news. I scarcely knew what to do as David and I wound our way through the huge — and very angry — crowds. Was this real life?

很難低估這一髮展過去和現在有多麼令人震驚。2022年5月初，關於即將推翻羅伊訴韋德案的消息開始洩露。就我個人而言，就在這個消息傳出時，我恰好飛到華盛頓參加FRC會議。這似乎美妙得不像真的：美國現代史上最邪惡的決定要被推翻了？消息傳出後的第二天晚上，FRC*的工作人員大衛·克洛森和我去了最高法院。當無數年輕男女抗議這一消息時，人們的語氣是憤怒的。我幾乎不知道該怎麼做，因為大衛和我在很多非常憤怒的人群中蜿蜒前行。這是真實的生活嗎？

*FRC指Family Research Council（家庭研究理事會），支持基督教價值觀的美國機構。

It was indeed real life. But those days of dazed wonderment are over. Now, as in ancient Israel, have come the days of settled joy. No, the fight against abortion is not over, not by a long shot. But believers should celebrate genuinely God-given victories. We who are saved by grace would be ungrateful children indeed if we did not honor this great outcome in the public square, one akin to the ban on slavery in Wilberforce’s day. Toward that end, here’s my encouragement: all through June, celebrate 「Life Month.」

這的確是真實的生命。但那些茫然驚奇的日子已經過去了。現在，就像在古代的以色列一樣，已經迎來了安定的喜悅的日子。不，反對墮胎的鬥爭還沒有結束，遠遠沒有結束。但是基督徒應該慶祝上帝賜予的真正的勝利。我們這些蒙恩得救的人，如果不在公共場合紀念這一偉大的成果，就會成為不知感恩的孩子，這類似於威伯福斯*時代對奴隸制的禁止。為此，我在此鼓勵大家：在整個六月，慶祝「生命月」。

*威廉·威伯福斯（William Wilberforce，1759年—1833年），英國國會下議院議員、慈善家、廢奴主義者。為英格蘭廢除奴隸運動的領袖之一，領導國會內的廢除奴隸行動，對抗英帝國的奴隸貿易，並於1807年親自見證《廢除奴隸貿易法案》的通過。（選自維基百科）

We should not do so in an obnoxious way. We are not fighting flesh and blood, after all. But in days that feel so dark, God has given us a great victory. This means that June is no longer a month for exalting human pride; June is a month for exalting God’s greatness. It is a time to rejoice in God’s gift of life, natural life, and spiritual life. God is our Creator, making every image-bearer such that every single unborn child has God-given dignity, worth, and purpose. God is also our Redeemer, making dead sinners live through the gospel message (Romans 1:16).

我們不應該以一種令人厭惡的方式去慶祝「生命月」。我們畢竟不是在與血肉之軀作戰。但是在感覺如此黑暗的日子里，神已經給了我們一個巨大的勝利。這意味著六月不再是一個高舉人類驕傲的月份；六月是一個高舉上帝的偉大的月份。這是一個為上帝賜予的生命、自然生命和屬靈生命而歡呼的時刻。上帝是我們的創造者，使每一個形象的擁有者，使每一個未出生的孩子都有上帝賦予的尊嚴、價值和目的。神也是我們的救贖者，通過福音信息使必死的罪人復活（羅馬書1：16）。

There is no better message than this. It is far, far greater than the pagan gospel, the message that you will find true happiness by embracing your natural instincts and then finding affirmation from others in them. This is no gospel at all, in reality, and it leads to fleshly captivity. But according to the true gospel, there is a way out of this enslavement. God is not only Creator and Redeemer, but Lord. The risen and ascended Christ rules the cosmos. At present, his rule is a spiritual rule, calling us to forsake the flesh, join the visible church as members, and live by grace as salt and light in this realm. In human pride, there is slavery; in Christ alone, there is freedom.

沒有比這更好的信息了。上帝的福音比異教徒的福音要榮耀得多。異教徒的福音是，你可以通過擁抱你的自然本能，然後在其中找到別人的肯定，從而找到真正的幸福。實際上，這根本不是福音，它是對肉體的俘虜。但根據真正的福音，有一個擺脫這種奴役的方法。上帝不僅是創造者和救贖者，而且是主。復活和升天的基督統治著整個宇宙。目前，祂的統治是屬靈的統治，呼召我們離棄依靠情慾而生，加入可見教會成為教會得成員，靠著恩典而活，在這個領域成為鹽和光。在人類的驕傲中，有奴役；只有在基督里，才有自由。

Our world loves death, for death is what following the father of lies gets you. But Christians love life, for life is what God delights to form, naturally but especially spiritually. So, in June, I encourage you: celebrate Life Month. Praise God for his grace. Share your celebration on social media. Create graphics and images, and promote them. Do podcasts about this. Don’t be silent; don’t be intimidated by our pagan culture into muteness. Speak, and don’t stop speaking. Pray, and don’t stop praying.

我們的世界熱愛死亡，因為死亡是跟隨謊言之父（注：魔鬼）的結果。但基督徒熱愛生命，因為生命是上帝樂於形成的，自然而然，尤其是在屬靈上。因此，在六月，我鼓勵你：慶祝生命月。為神的恩典贊美祂。在社交媒體上分享你的慶祝活動。創建圖片和圖像，並推廣它們。製作關於生命月的播客。不要沈默。不要被我們的異教文化嚇倒，變成沈默。發聲，而且不要停止發聲。祈禱，不要停止祈禱。

Start serving at a pro-life work. In fact, work against abortion any way you can, recognizing the murder of an unborn child as a genuine crime, whatever complex factors may lead to the pursuit of one. Calmly engage someone who is celebrating Pride Month, and proclaim Christ to them. Lovingly tell them the truth about sin and the hope that is in Christ. No one is too far gone for God to save them. And no one who is saved is a hopeless case, an abandoned child of God, or too much of a spiritual failure to grow in grace. I repeat myself: for all of us, there is hope, infinite hope, in Christ (Colossians 1:27).

開始在支持生命的工作中服務。事實上，以任何方式反對墮胎，認識到謀殺未出生的孩子是真正的犯罪，無論什麼複雜的因素可能都應當搶救將被殺得嬰孩。平靜地與正在慶祝驕傲月的人接觸，並向他們宣講基督。以愛心告訴他們關於罪的真相和在基督里的希望。沒有人因為偏離太遠而無法被上帝拯救的。沒有一個已得救的人是無望的，是被上帝拋棄的孩子，或者是靈性太差，無法在恩典中成長。我重申：對我們所有人來說，在基督里有希望，有無限的希望（歌羅西書1：27）。

June is Life Month. It cannot be otherwise. In June 2022, the Lord of heaven and earth saw fit to strike down the chief 「right」 (and rite) of the liberal worldview in the very month when that worldview was most glorified and praised. What an incredible move this was. God, you see, is not mocked. Nor is God asleep. To the contrary, the living personal God is active and working. This God is the God of dramatic reversals and breathtaking miracles. This God loves and celebrates life.

六月是生命月，別無其他。2022年6月，在自由主義世界觀得到最多榮耀和贊美的月份，創造天地的上帝看到了合適的時機，打擊了自由主義世界觀的主要「權利」（和儀式）。這是一個多麼不可思議的舉動。你看，上帝沒有被嘲弄。上帝也不是在打盹。恰恰相反，上帝是活躍的，在積極地工作。上帝是製造戲劇性的逆轉和產出令人驚嘆的奇跡的神。上帝熱愛並贊美生命。

So must we.

我們也當如此。