Free Republic

As my regular readers know, I have blogged in the past two weeks about my visit to Lakewood Church. I issued an open letter to Joel Osteen asking him to embrace the gay community by responding to Soulforce's request for Lakewood Church to participate in the American Family Outing. I also blogged about the press conference that Soulforce held last week. You can read these previous entries on this blog. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the picnic on Saturday because of other family and church obligations, but Soulforce issued the following press release just moments ago. Jay Bakker and...

This winter, as the Rev. Joel Osteen graces the pages of People Magazine, the familiar image of the old-school, anti-gay televangelist is rapidly being replaced by a new iconography: a younger generation of mega-church leaders with upbeat and inviting messages. Unfortunately, while this generation's tone may seem less harsh, many of their mega-churches still enforce policies of exclusion and teach theologies that label Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people as sick, sinful, and in need of change. An "American Family Outing" is taking shape in the spring of 2008 so LGBT families can talk with mega-church leaders and congregation...

A team of homosexual activists whose goal is to "dialogue" with Christian colleges about changing their beliefs regarding the "gay" lifestyle is coming to Bob Jones University, but campus officials already have made plans to, very politely, disinvite them from campus. The "Soulforce Equality Riders" several weeks ago launched teams in two buses with directions to head to several dozen Christian colleges and "address discriminatory" policies on those campuses. However, officials at Bob Jones University, a leader in Christian education as well as publishing and ministry, say there's no point in meeting with the group, scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Members of a gay rights group were arrested Monday after staging a sit-in at a Baptist seminary whose president is drawing criticism for his comments on prenatal treatments that would influence a child's sexual orientation. The group, Soulforce, attempted to meet with the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary's president, the Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr., an influential evangelical leader.

What does the Bible really say about homosexuality?" many Christians ask their clergy on the controversial issue. It's the main question addressed in a new feature documentary "The Bible Tells Me So," which was featured at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, last week. The feature documentary centers on the national conversation around Scripture and homosexuality and how Scripture has been used in both good and bad ways, Daniel Karslake, director of the film, explained on the Sundance Channel. Mainly, the film relays how the religious right has used the Bible to support the "stigmatizing" of the homosexual...

As a set of identical twins from Spencer, Okla., Robert and Michael Cich both have dark hair, similar facial features and are both interested in joining the military. Michael Cich went to Oklahoma City to join the Army on Wednesday, but wasn’t allowed to enlist. He is a an advertising senior and president of OSU’s Sexual Orientation Diversity Association, and has been openly gay for about six years. “It was a horrible day just for myself personally,” he said. Everyone involved in the recruitment process handled themselves professionally, but the day didn’t go as he had expected, Cich said. He...

La Shawn writes at her corner that a group called Soulforce has organized a 51-day tour of Christian and other conservative colleges on "Equality Rides" to equate phony homosexual "civil rights" with the struggle for blacks to win real civil rights back in the 1960s. Soulforce claims that: [l]ike the Freedom Rides of the 50's and 60's, the Equality Ride is a student-led effort that takes young adults into epicenters of intolerance and oppression to make a better tomorrow. In going on this journey, the Equality Riders draw inspiration from those Freedom Riders over forty years ago. I'm 45 years old and white, so...

03.13.06 Homosexuals Arrested at Liberty University Homosexuals continue to equate perversion with black America’s struggle in the 1960s for equal rights. Highly offensive. But then again, they don’t care about offending me. An organization called Soulforce has formed a group to go on a 51-day tour of Christian and military colleges that oppose homosexual behavior. Members of the so-called Equality Rides travel to schools to “present a powerful case for GLBT equality.” For you virtual virgins, GLBT stands for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered. “Transgendered” is a euphemism for a man in a dress [or who thinks he should be...