Skip to main content

CA Christians Believe Resolution May Force Religious Leaders to Accept LGBTQ Lifestyles


On Tuesday, lawmakers in California listened to arguments on a proposed resolution that some California Christians believe would infringe on their religious liberties, according to CBN News.
The resolution, titled Assembly Concurrent Resolution 99 (ACR99) and authored by Evan Low (D-San Jose), “calls upon all Californians to embrace the individual and social benefits of family and community acceptance [of LGBTQ matters]…” and to “counsel on LGBTQ matters from a place of love, compassion, and knowledge of the psychological and other harms of conversion therapy.”
But many religious leaders believe the language in the resolution may condemn those with an opposing view.
“ACR discriminates against perfectly rational adults who seek an alternate viewpoint to the gay-affirming counseling many of them have already tried and found wanting,” Russell Willingham, executive director of New Creation Ministries said. “I believe ACR99 sets the stage for future laws that will criminalize pastor caregivers like me who provide such a resource—resources that offer an option for those who don’t want what the state is telling them they must accept.”

Jonathan Keller, California Family Council President, agrees. “California Christians love our neighbors who identify as LGBTQ,” he said. “Sadly, it appears Assemblyman Low and other intolerant legislators will not stop until people of faith publicly celebrate the legislature’s preferred concept of sexual orientation and gender identity.”
Not all religious leaders feel this way, however. Dan Carroll, pastor of the Water of Life Community Church, reached out to the LGBTQ caucus to discuss the resolution. “It’s not a law,” he shared. “That’s really important to say. Nobody’s being forced to do anything. It’s a suggestion.”
“The thing that we agreed with the LGBTQ caucus on was that we are not for any kind of coercive behavior on the part of leaders or counselors or pastors,” he continued. “And as we shared with the LGBTQ caucus, we don’t know anybody in California, that’s Christian that is actually doing what they’re suggesting that we’re doing.”
Even still, formerly gay Californians believe the resolution is “discriminatory” towards people who followed their faith away from a homosexual lifestyle. The resolution would encourage pastors and counselors to persuade those with an unwanted same-sex attraction not to change.
In a petition letter against the resolution, Willingham argued, “People should have the freedom to pursue what brings them true happiness and joy. ACR 99 is trying to cut people off from their own pathway to happiness.” Over 1,500 pastors, medical doctors, psychologists, attorneys, and other leaders have signed the letter.


Tags:


  • #politics #top headlines
  • #LGBT
  • #California
  • #religious liberty
    • Labels:

    Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Is Coronavirus One of the Plagues in the Book of Revelation?

    Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few weeks you have probably seen, heard, and read about the coronavirus that is disrupting life all over the globe. And it is quite likely that it has had a direct impact on you, even if you have not yet gotten sick from it. Social distancing has become a new by-word in the past few days. The banning of large gatherings, including churches, and the closing of many establishments where people gather are common. Empty shelves at the grocery store are a normal sight. And there is the expectation that things will get worse before they begin to improve. Many people automatically look to connect any large-scale disaster to Revelation and see in it a sign of the end. But should we? This article will look at this virus and its relationship to Revelation. And then at how, as Christians, we should respond to it. What Is This Coronavirus? There seems to be a lot of confusion about this virus, starting with its name. Cor...
    Post a Comment
    Read more

    Prayer’s Exclamation Point

    Prayer is a response to promises, that is, to the assurances of God’s future grace. Prayer is drawing on the account where God has deposited all his stores of future grace. Prayer is not hoping in the dark that there might be a God of good intentions out there. Prayer banks on the promise of God, and goes to the bank every day and draws on stores of future grace needed for that day. Don’t miss the connection between the two halves of this great verse. Notice the “that is why”: “All the promises of God are Yes in Christ.  That is why  (therefore) we pray Amen through him, to God’s glory.” To make sure we see it, let’s turn the two halves around: When we pray, we say Amen to God through Christ,  because  God has said a decisive Amen to all his promises in Christ. Prayer is the confident plea for God to make good on his promises of future grace — for Christ’s sake. Prayer links our faith in future grace with the foundation of it all, Jesus Chr...
    Post a Comment
    Read more

    Building Boldness from the Verse "God Has Not Given Us a Spirit of Fear"

    When you look in the dictionary the word fear has two main definitions: A distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, threat or evil whether the threat is real or imagined; and a reverential awe, as in the fear of the Lord.  With this in mind, what does the verse “God has not given us a spirit of fear” mean? Let’s start by looking at the whole verse which is found in 2 Timothy 1:7: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” The New King James says it this way – “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Based on the definition of the word, it can’t mean reverential awe because that wouldn’t make sense. Clearly fear means something else so let’s dig deeper to understand what it means. Let’s also consider the proper response we should have to fear. Photo credit: Unsplash/Aziz Acharki ...
    Post a Comment
    Read more