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News, Views and Careers for All of Higher Education

April 26, 2005

Gay Freedom Riders

A gay rights group is using the Freedom Riders of the civil rights era as a model to promote a different kind of equality.

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The group — with about 60 students from colleges throughout Virginia — went to Liberty University Monday as the first stop on a protest tour of religious and military colleges where gay students would face punishments for revealing their orientations. The Equality Ride will take place next year, but will follow the pattern of Monday’s events.

The students visited the university and spoke informally with Liberty students. But according to organizers, they were turned away from the library when they tried to donate books about gay people. The organizers were also unable to turn over to Rev. Jerry Falwell, the founder and chancellor of the university, anonymous letters from current students at Liberty who are gay. Equality Ride published two of those letters on its Web site.

Don Egle, director of public relations at Liberty, said “we don’t feel that this situation warrants a comment.” Asked about the university’s policies toward gay students, he said only “we follow Scripture.”

Local television stations reported that Falwell told students at their morning convocation, “This is not gay day.”

Jake Reitan, one of the organizers of Equality Ride, said that the idea was to focus on religious and military colleges where gay students cannot speak out for themselves. Reitan, who is director of youth programs for Soul Force, a gay rights group, said that the colleges to be visited will be announced later. But Equality Ride provides a list of policies at religious and military colleges where gay students can face punishments for their sexuality.

In the visits to colleges, he said, Equality Ride plans to stress the issue of academic freedom.

“If a professor here wanted to say that God really loves gay students, he would get in trouble,” Reitan said about Liberty. “If a student told a professor he was gay, he would be reported and urged to attend ex-gay programs,” where people are told that they can change their sexual orientation.

Reitan said that the requests the group wanted to make of Liberty were minimal: Accepting books that could be added to the library “that students could decide to read or not,” and designating some place on campus where students could talk about being gay without fear of being expelled or having their parents informed.

The campaign comes at a time that many religious colleges are facing demands that they recognize gay groups — and also demands from religious denominations that they not do so.

Reitan said that the issue is not going away. “This was the first run. We’re going to be at a lot more colleges.”

— Scott Jaschik

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Comments

Gays and god

Don Egle of Liberty University continues to sing the same sad song of other hate-filled religious people. In his case, it is that he “follows Scripture"—yet he has said nothing to confirm the veracity of his words. On the contrary, there is no true condemnation of homosexuality in the Old Testament: the myth of Sodom & Gomorrah has not only been disproved by science, but is found to be quite different in a careful reading of the Genesis account. The messengers (angels) came like thieves in the night to slip into the house of a foreigner living in a state at war. They refused to be recognized by the city by not presenting themsleves to “the men of the city, even all the people” (all includes women). Lot, on the other hand, typical of the misogynism of his day, offered his daughters to the men (implying allowing their rape)—a crime far worse than any homosexual act of consent. Far worse, by ancient Hebrew standards, was that outside of Zoar, Lot’s daughters made their father drunk in order to have sex with him (an act which led to their conceiving his children).

As for the account in Leviticus 18:22, it is a transmogrification of the 125th chapter of the Book of the Dead (Ch. Maystre, les declarations d’innocence, Cairo, 1937), where the sole concern is that the dead did not have a pedophiliac relationship (A20).

Paul’s objection in Romans was his fear that any action away from faith would cost the conception of faith.—yet an action that Paul says his god permits (Romans 1:28) and therefore is the author of the action. It is sad that it is read out of context, but then even this is a redaction of a far older text that was incorporated into the corpus scriptorum of another figure for which there is no historical proof of existence. All that passage, like others allegedly-antigay, is that it brought together a small group of individuals into a unique community of outsiders spurned for their eccentricities and self-righteousness.

Arthur Ide, PhD, at 1:09 pm EDT on October 27, 2005

Out of Context?

To Whom it May Concern, Your scriptural interpretation is ludicrous. A second grade elementary student could read Romans 1:26-27 and clearly tell you what it means. Even the most liberal of real Bible scholars would not try your weak and juvenile arguments. Why does your so called “open minded” Equality Ride group refuse to dialogue or debate with some of the universities that you are attacking? Why don’t your so-called “PHD” debate with some real Bible scholars? Why don’t you tell the truth that you are not Christian and that your agenda is to damage the reputation of these fine institutions as well as trying to destroy the lives of their students who are having questions about their sexuality.(as almost all teenagers do) Why don’t you tell these poor students the truth! That they are going to cut their life expectancy almost in half by choosing your destructive lifestyle. Why don’t you tell them about the thousands of perfectly happy, former homosexuals that dealt with the same struggles they are having. Why don’t you tell them they will never have natural children because they were not designed to have sexual relations with the same sex. Why don’t you tell them what the end of Romans 1:27 really means,"recieving in themselves the due penalty for their sins.” Meaning that they will pay for their destructive behavior. Not God’s judgement but the disease and consequence that naturally comes from destructive behavior. Christians do not hate homosexuals, although it may seem that way from your side of the fence sometimes. Real Christians pity and pray for them, the same way we would a heroin addict. We understand that consequences will be paid, in this lifetime, for destructive behavior such as heroin addiction or homosexual relationships. I understand that I have most likely angered you. I ask you to please forgive me for this but I felt I needed to communicate the views of an overwhelming amount of Christians. If you are really Christian, as you claim, I ask you to be honest with yourself. Do not let culture or any group deceive you.(1Cor.5:6) God loves you and so does most Christians. Homosexuality is no greater sin than fornication or lying. It just happens to carry more social persecution than those. I ask you to logically consider my argument and do some unbias research on homosexualty. If you are truly honest with yourself I think you will understand my perspective.

God bless You,

Nathan Glenn

Nathan, Student at Lee University, at 8:35 am EST on February 4, 2006

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