Are Christians free to teach that homosexuality is wrong?

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Today’s BreakPoint commentary from Chuck Colson describes an alarming situation:


When we wrote the Manhattan Declaration last fall, we warned about “the decline in respect for religious values in the media, the academy and political leadership.”

An example of this decline is on display currently in Georgia. Jennifer Keeton, who is a 24-year-old studying for a master’s degree in counseling at Augusta State University, has been threatened with expulsion. The grounds for the threatened expulsion are not poor grades or misconduct – they are Keeton’s beliefs.

Specifically, they are Keeton’s beliefs about the morality of homosexuality. In written assignments and classroom discussions, Keeton has said that people’s sexual conduct is “the result of accountable, personal choices,” and not “a state of being.”

These statements caused officials to question “her ability,” I’m quoting now, “to provide competent counseling to gay men and lesbians.” So they gave her a choice: participation in a re-education plan or expulsion.

Since when does a person have to agree with all points of particular psychological theories to work in the field of psychology? It is ridiculous to require blind obedience to theories of human development and behavior. The theories are wide and varied. The research is often incomplete. This is a travesty of justice and a violation of common sense.

Further information can be found here, here and here.

Incidentally, I had chosen not to sign the Manhattan Declaration earlier because it reminded me so much of the Evangelicals and Catholics Together document which I could not sign out of conscience. Catholics and Presbyterians differ too much on important doctrines like justification by faith alone for me to sign. I have now re-read the Manhattan Declaration and have signed the document. I commend it for your signature.

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