'Lose Christianity or face expulsion': Georgia student told to read 'gay' literature, attend 'pride parade,' change beliefs

THIS STORY truly speaks for itself in the secular degeneration of our nation and requires no commentary. Read and be utterly shocked. If you are a secularist, will you stand for this?

A lawsuit against Augusta State University in Georgia alleges school officials essentially gave a graduate student in counseling the choice of giving up her Christian beliefs or being expelled from the graduate program.

School officials Mary Jane Anderson-Wiley, Paulette Schenck and Richard Deaner demanded student Jen Keeton, 24, go through a "remediation" program after she asserted homosexuality is a behavioral choice, not a "state of being" as a professor said, according to the complaint.

Also named as defendants in the case that developed in May and June are other administrators and the university system's board of regents.

The remediation program was to include "sensitivity training" on homosexual issues, additional outside study on literature promoting homosexuality and the plan that she attend a "gay pride parade" and report on it....

Derek Webb's controversial song

Above is a controversial song by Derek Webb who is part of the group, Caedmon's Call. Personally, I don't care much for "Christian music." Musically, its almost always about 10 years behind the times and seems to want to rip off U2 riffs that were written decades ago. But besides this, I thought Derek Webb's song was pretty controversial to say the least.

Having sat under teachers to the likes of Jay Bakker, i've heard it all when it comes to evangelical fundy's who have wrongly treated homosexuals. And to an extent, I agree with them. Denying homosexuals jobs and other discriminatory acts is something that I cannot stand for. Nor can I stand for the outright hatred some evangelicals have shown the homosexual community.

Apparently, this is what Derek Webb's song is about. But there is something else that is rather peculiar in this song. As Fred Butler has rightly pointed out, why are homosexuals being singled out in being shown such "hatred?" If homosexual behavior is a sin, then why not go after the other sinners that are treated far more harshly, such as the porn industry or much worse, child molesters? Am I saying child molesters are the same thing as homosexuals? No, i'm not. I'm simply suggesting an irony that homosexual behavior is being singled out. Is it because homosexuality has become trendy and more socially acceptable? Do we treat other sinful lifestyles like this? Hasn't adultery become rampant as well? What happens when these lifestyles become trendy? Is Derek Webb going to write songs about how these people are mistreated?

For me, the bottom line is not so much how we shouldn't treat homosexuals, but how we should treat them. Thus, we have a dilemma:

A) Homosexual behavior is a sin.

B) Therefore, we need to treat it as such.

When are these people who keep telling us, "stop mistreating homosexuals" going to inform us on how we should treat them? And if you are going to try to make the impossible case that homosexual behavior isn't a sin, then be prepared to do some biblical exegesis. Otherwise, let's start talking about how to treat sinners as opposed to how we have mistreated a very specific group of people. In other words, let's make a more general and positive approach on how believers should spread the gospel, which includes pointing sinners to their sinful standing before God. And when we do that, there should be no basis for saying, "oh, just make sure that you don't be too harsh to this one particular sin."

Marriage: ordained and created by...Obama?

You will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman.(Applause)

--President Barak Obama, October 10, 2009

Al Mohler has recently offered his commentary that I feel is worth reading in light of the President's recent speech. James White offers his thoughts as well. My two cents go as follows:

Marriage was ordained by God, not by men. And because I believe God to be the Almighty judge and creator of this Universe, what He says goes. I simply know of no other way to say it. So whether you "like" His laws and stipulations is something that you have to take up with Him. But given the President's comment cited above, how can I "admire" what God has deemed sinful? Am I to go against my Creator because of what is politically correct in today's culture?

My problem is, on what basis can President Obama make such a declaration? What is his moral standard? Mine is the Bible. And regardless of how progressive morality is today, I cannot go along with it no matter how popular it becomes. This isn't about "hating" gays or denying them their rights as American citizens; this is about my moral views that are based on God's moral views. And who does my President think he is to tell us what we should or shouldn't admire?

Same-Sex Marriage Debate

I've been trying to put together some video blogs together, but there is never enough time! I'm meeting up tomorrow with one of my JW friends, David, and I have to do some additional research on 607 B.C. and the destruction of Jerusalem. I really want to get some things posted on this issue, because it is something that very few JW's know about. At any rate, first things first!

In the meantime, I wanted to post this video between James White and a sociology professor (which makes it very relevant to me!) whose name I can't remember. Its a short debate, but I thought it was very informative.