Teacher Under Fire for Christian View of Marriage, Resigns after LGBT Witch Hunt

By Michael Stack
Life Action News

A California teacher resigned after a letter he wrote for the school newspaper condemning homosexuality caused backlash.

Michael Stack, a special education teacher at San Luis Obispo High School, submitted the letter to editor of the online Expressions responding to its May issue covering LGBT issues that contained a cover photo of two women kissing.

He resigned May 11, the same day someone called in a death threat for him to the school. Stack had faced criticism after citing the Bible on the sinfulness of homosexuality in the letter.

The passage he referenced (Romans 1:16-32) states that individuals who take part in homosexual acts “suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved” “as a result of this sin.”

“Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God,” it says, “He abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.” The passage goes on to describe various elements of wickedness and into which their lives would descend because of God’s abandonment.

“They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway,” it states. “Worse yet, they encourage others to do them too.”

Stack said he wrote these things “in order to lift up those who have stumbled, or may stumble, and put you back on the right path.”

Stack had written as well that the Bible teaches we are all accountable for our actions and that teachers are especially accountable.

“I love the staff and students at SLOHS. My students know that,” he said. “But I love God more, so in obedience to Him, I am writing this letter.”

Aric Sweeney, editor-in-chief of Expressions and a senior at the high school, said he decided to publish the letter after talking with his staff adviser, according to Teen Vogue.

“Good journalism includes giving voice to both sides regardless of whether or not I agree with him,” Sweeney said. “Because I’ll say up front, I disagree with everything he said in the letter to the editor but decided to include it anyway because it’s important to give him a voice.”

The city’s mayor, Heidi Harmon, was part of the pushback, promoting and taking part in a protest at the school in support of its LGBTQ community. She called the letter “unacceptable” on Facebook.

Live Action News continues

Christians' Freedom Is Being Challenged by Homosexuality and Islam, Says NRB Head

NRB President Jerry Johnson speaks during the annual
NRB Convention in Orlando, Feb. 27, 2017

By Jeannie Law
Christian Post

The National Religious Broadcasters Christian Media Convention kicked off in Orlando, Florida, Monday with NRB President Jerry Johnson stating that the two major concerns Christians in America have are homosexuality and Islam.

"Our mission is threefold: Advancing Biblical truth, promoting media excellence, and defending free speech," Johnson said Monday night during the opening session of the annual convention.

"Religion, that's NRB. Speech, that's NRB. Press, that's NRB. I don't know another group that does all three. Some do religion, some do speech, and some do press."

Citing the Declaration of Independence — what he called America's "birth certificate" — Johnson highlighted one phrase: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

"We speak frankly here, the liberty and the freedom [part] is being challenged for us as broadcasters on two fronts — sexuality and Islam," he told Christian leaders, broadcasters and people from all different forms of media who gathered in Orlando to connect, discover and advance the future of Christian content.

"For now," he noted, the U.S. government has decided that same-sex marriage is legal. President Donald Trump also recently endorsed the legalization when he told CBS' "60 Minutes" that "these cases have gone to the Supreme Court; they've been settled" and he's "fine with that."

The problem with same-sex marriage being permissible by law, however, is that Christian artists should not be forced to "make the cake, provide flowers, do the pictures, and sing the songs," Johnson stressed.

The NRB head went on to reference the stories of some of this year's NRB guests He highlighted the case of Kelvin J. Cochran, who was fired as Atlanta Fire Chief for his Christian beliefs, and also the Benham Brothers, who lost the chance to host their own HGTV show in 2014 for supposed "anti-gay" remarks. "People are penalized for this," Johnson lamented.

Addressing the concern over Islam, Johnson noted that terrorism and violence are not the only issues.  "But it's the intolerance. It's the sharia. It's the blasphemy codes," he stressed.

"Is there any country where the majority is Islam [and] it's safe for someone to convert from Islam to Christianity? Is there any culture dominated by this worldview, where you can critique Muhammad or the Quran? It is absolutely antithetic to freedom of speech, freedom of religion or freedom of the press, and we must be aware of this and alert to this."

Christian Post article continues