According to an official press release from Palm Beach University, the Florida Christian college will deny Soulforce Equality Riders access to its on campus students.

SAFE applauds this decision and believes more schools have “wised up” to the Soulforce game of releasing misleading press statements, fomenting lies and opposing school policies which protect the sexual integrity of Christian students.

When it became apparent that Soulforce intended to visit without regard to the University’s response, administrators offered a campus visit with representative students, faculty and staff. The offer was made as a courtesy after prayerful and thoughtful consideration focusing on the need to maintain the University’s schedule of classes and activities without disruption. Soulforce’s response called the University’s good-faith offer “restrictive” and announced plans to walk on campus to hold an open forum. 

Though Soulforce has misstated the University’s policies in their news releases, admission to the University is open to anyone who meets the University’s admission requirements, academic and otherwise. The University does not ban enrollment of students with same sex orientation. Although Palm Beach Atlantic welcomes students from various backgrounds, the University does require that all students adhere to the behavioral standards outlined in the student handbook, The Navigator, which prohibits activities that are inconsistent with the teachings of the Bible.”

Soulforce has racked up an undeniable record of deception in order to force their brand of false equality onto Christian schools. PBA officials refused to alter their original terms of meeting with ER and said the visit will not change their policies concerning student conduct.

Palm Beach Atlantic further stated that if the visitors deviated from the University’s plan, it would take appropriate action, including restricting the visitors from campus and terminating all planned activities.

 

 

 

SAFE applauds students and the administration of  Columbia International University who on Tuesday rejected Soulforce Equality Rider’s message of false equality.

The Daily Gamecock carried an AP story stating that the group was also rejected by Columbia’s administration.

Columbia International University spokesman Mike Blackwell said Soulforce refused an offer to meet with faculty, staff and student leaders off campus. The university won’t invite any groups to campus that advocate beliefs contrary to school policies, he said.

“We just didn’t see any reason to give them a forum to communicate something that we didn’t believe in,” Blackwell said.

The university student handbook states that “certain behaviors are expressly prohibited in Scripture and therefore are to be avoided by members of the University community. These include theft, gambling, lying, dishonesty, gossip, slander, backbiting, profanity, vulgarity (including crude language), sexual promiscuity (including adultery, homosexual behavior, premarital sex, and pornography), drunkenness, immodest attire, and occult practice.”

Katie Higgins, the group’s press agent continued giving misleading statements to the press as noted by one current student.

The statement claiming, “The group has received several letters from gay Columbia International University students scared to speak out – even an anonymous one from a former student who was kicked out of the university, Higgins said.” is inaccurate and misleading. There are students who face the issue of a homosexual nature here at CIU. They are not trying to change the rules though. And regarding the members of soulforce who were contacted, it was to establish friendships on facebook by CIU students. Not that we are “afraid” of coming out. If those are the students that are referred to, then that is misleading. Students here are not scared to speak out, many who deal with this issue have shared that homosexuality is something they are working through. A university spokesman said he couldn’t provide details about the case and that the university had no openly gay students. – that is true in the sense that no student embraces their struggle of homosexuality. The anonymous student was a former student from 20 years ago who contacted Soulforce. That is what the people of soulforce told us as they read the letter to us. No one has been kicked out of CIU for embracing homosexuality in at least the past three years that I have been a student.

On the eve of the “equality” ride targeting Christian schools who maintain a biblical worldview on sexual purity and homosexuality, Soulforce continues to prove that schools should not give them access to vunerable students.  A source inside the Liberty University Public Relations office told SAFE on yesterday, that there has been no official acceptance of Soulforce on its campus. Howver,  a Soulforce “media advisory” claimed (in all caps) that Liberty University will “allow them on campus”.

Katie Higgins did not respond to email requests from SAFE to cite official LU sources for the advisory. Soulforce, generally posts its media advisories online, but strangely this one was not.

In the past under the late Dr. Jerry Falwell, Soulforce ER was banned from campus with no exceptions. In 2006, they were arrested for trespassing onto the Liberty U property.

SAFE received the following from a reader who had taken the time to dissect and refute Mel White’s religious maze about the Bible and homosexuality.  It is rather long, but students are encouraged to use it when Equality Riders show up. Most because they do not value the scripture will only stick to talking points, but SAFE encourages students who encounter Equality Riders at “dialogues” to ask the hard questions and demand biblical answers.

Read Response to Mel White by BJ Olson

Jarrett Lucas, the Souforce co-protestor leader who claimed Simmons College had the “worst policies” he has ever seen, has some of the most extreme views we have ever seen. Lucas is emerging as Soulforce’s  strangely moralizing hypocrite du jour.

Lucas, a former Jehovahs Witness, said Soulforce is not a Christian organization, but a montage of several religions which probably accounts for the weird notions and interpretations they come up with when attempting to tell Christian schools what to believe about the Bible.

People wonder, “Is Soul Force a Christian organization?” and no, it’s interfaith and that represents the full spectrum from atheist, agnostic, jewish, christian, yes.”

How can an atheist, agnostic or jew properly interpret the Bible? But this is the premise Soulforce and its Equality Riders protest squad is operating on. That’s like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad telling the American people how to interpret our US Constitution. The Equality Riders are no more qualified to tell Christian Schools what they should believe than Ahmadinejad is qualified to run for US public office.

Although Lucas admits that he was hooked on pornography –while in high school—, he instead calls his grandparent’s views on homosexuality and porn as “skewered and distorted”. Lucas blames them for disciplining him. Imagine adults discipling a teen for looking at porn and the teen calls it “distorted”. But who’s really distorted, Lucas or his grandparents? 

” Because I had a computer and internet, and was very curious about myself and the world– I had pornography on the computer. He made it clear that I had to be gone within two hours. He didn’t say where. Pretty much what was important was what and why you need to be gone. But, it was also him doing what he thought was right, you know.

“God’s love and punishment, I have to kick you out. I can’t accept this. I can’t stand for it.”

And so, I was kicked out that day.”

Lucas never says that pornography was wrong, only that it was wrong that his grandfather for telling him to leave the house.

Lucas does not say what his current religious beliefs are but without ever having denounced his pornography addiction and his false Jehovah’s Witness heresy, Christian schools can not afford to enter into “dialogue” with such a person. Lucas should be the last person to dictate what sexual morals are all about especially since his own morals are in question.  He told NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff “We want to have a conversation about LGBT [Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] people, their lives, their morality. And, we’ll do it within communities of faith”

Oh really Mr. Lucas? You want to have a conversation about other people’s morality? Why don’t you start with the devastating statistics of porn addiction? Something you have yet to denounce or speak out against.

38 percent of adults believe it is “morally acceptable” to look at pictures of nudity or explicit sexual behavior Morality Continues to Decay. Barna Research Group, 3 November, 2003.

59 percent of adults believe it is ˜morally acceptable” to have sexual thoughts or fantasies Morality Continues to Decay. Barna Research Group, 3 November, 2003.

38 percent of adults believe there is nothing wrong with pornography use Morality Continues to Decay. Barna Research Group, 3 November, 2003.

42 percent of surveyed adults indicated that their partners use of pornography made them feel insecure. Marriage Related Research, Mark A. Yarhouse, Psy.D. Christian Counseling Today, 2004 Vol. 12 No. 1.

41 percent of surveyed adults admitted they felt less attractive due to their partner’s pornography use. Marriage Related Research, Mark A. Yarhouse, Psy.D. Christian Counseling Today, 2004 Vol. 12 No. 1.

In December of 2000, the National Coalition to Protect Children and Families surveyed 5 Christian Campuses to see how the next generation of believers was doing with sexual purity:
48% of males admitted to current porn use 68% of males said they intentionally viewed a sexually explicit site at the school

There you go Jarrett Lucas. Porn is distorted. Homosexuality is distorted. You and your Soulforce crusade against Christian Schools is distorted.

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In brief…

Working to complete its goals before the start of the Equality bus tour on October 1,  SAFE continued today reaching out and communicating with schools on the Equality Riders’ target list. Our goal is to establish personal communication with a key personnel in each school  To date, SAFE has received very encouraging information from several schools on the list.  Unfortunately, due to the sensitive nature of ongoing planning, SAFE is not at liberty to publicize that information.

The emerging picture, however is that Soulforce’s Equality Riders will have a dissapointing visit to many of the schools they have chosen to target. A representative from a targeted school told SAFE that Soulforce had “not done its homework” and will be surprised upon their arrival at the campus. SAFE is providing counsel regarding possible scenarios and informing schools of strategies which will minimize the danger of a Equality Ride visit.

SAFE would like to thank those administrators and public relations representatives who have contacted us. We ask supporters of SAFE to pray for 100% operational success at each school in the coming months.

With their demands for schools to adopt their extremist worldview, more and more the Equality Riders are beginning to look like Bull Connor devotees rather than upholders of individual civil rights espoused by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We urge you to contact each school on the list and register your support.

One would think that decent people seeking dialogue in a kind and respectful atmosphere would be grateful for a kind gesture of food and water even from those who disagree with your position.

Not the Equality Riders.

Last year, as the Soulforce “nonviolence” group converged on Bob Jones University, the school answered with that simple gesture of goodwill. But the Equality Riders saw it as an act of hypocrisy and rejected it in a spirit of arrogance. They even called the school’s offer “fake”. The Equality Riders are self enthroned masters at “civil disobedience” and “nonviolent resistance” and should add bigoted arrogance to their list of accomplishments.

But who is the real hypocrite? The Equality Riders mimicked the reformer Martin Luther with 57 theses against BJU which read in part:

1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, has commanded us to love one another (John 15:17).

2. This word can be understood to mean that the whole life of believers should be centered around that love (1 Corinthians 16:14).

3. Yet it means not only to love in thought and in word. There is no inward love which does not outwardly show in action (1 John 3:18).

4. We can learn from Scripture and from noted theologians, therefore, instructions on how to live out the agape love of God.

5. Before we know how to live out this love, we must understand it at its core.

But how is it an act of love or understanding love at the core to reject someone’s sincere offer of food and water? What’s clear is that the Equality Riders consider “love” a tool which only benefits them in the process of hurling accusations against others, particularly Christian schools. The lesson many schools are learning is that no matter how nice, hospitable, cordial, loving, conciliatory and Christian a school tries to be towards the Equality Riders, their intent is to force the school to accept their false love and equality.

Have you ever thought about why Soulforce hasnt targeted any muslim schools? Why havent they targeted any orthodox Jewish schools that require sexual fidelity of its students? Why only Christian schools?

The reason is that this traveling roadshow of hypocrites are out to intimidate honest schools whose policies are for the protection of its students against sexual immorality, sexual diseases and emotional brokenness which is a result of illicit sexual behavior. 

SAFE urges all schools targeted by Soulforce to stand unwavering, unapologetic and true to principles which save lives and protect souls.

Its no secret that Soulforce and its Equality Riders don’t like Christian school policies which discourage sexual activity and its attendant diseases.

Jarrett Lucas, one of four black participants on the Soulforce Equality Ride lambasted Kentucky’s Simmons College as one of the “worst” he has seen.  Lucas responded to Soulforce forum post questioning Soulforce’s  decision to target HBCU campuses when they are not per se “Christian”. Lucas’ arrogant disdain for biblical standards of sexual conduct was palpable in his remarks:

Our last stop this year is Simmons College of Kentucky, which, like Spelman, is also a faith-based historically black college. Simmons has one of the worst policies I have ever seen. Beyond condemning sexual and gender diversity, it goes on to express that families without a mother and a father figure are broken semblances of what a real family is. That rhetoric was not born of pen and paper or in a student handbook. It comes from history and doctrine, from the abuse of power coupled with an unfortunately prevalent ignorance. And, these sentiments are not unique to Simmons College. I can guarantee that we will find them on every campus we visit, including Spelman. Yes, it will be in varying degrees and manifestations, but that does not lessen our responsibility to go and work towards understanding.”

Understanding? How could Soulforce be seeking understanding based on one-way dialogue? Simmons College was targeted because it believes what the Bible says about sexual immorality and homosexuality and encourages students to live a life free of sexual sin. How is that “discrimination” and “unequal”, given the skyrocketing cases of HIV in the black community among young men? Why does Lucas and Soulforce want to encourage more young black men and women to get involved in high risk sexual behavior which has been proven to be a major factor in the transmission of HIV?

Soulforce and Lucas are delusional and should never be allowed to have access to Christian students to even suggest that “equality” means accepting homosexual behavior and even worse getting involved in it. Let’s keep Christian schools SAFE from Soulforce and its life-devaluing concepts of equality.

Last year, Covenant College in Georgia offered an agreement with Equality Riders which would allow them to “dialogue” with key personnel with restricted access to the campus. Equality Riders rejected the agreement and Covenant College subsequently rescinded its visitor agreement. Read the letter sent by Covenant to alumni.

“We repeatedly asked that Soulforce accept our hospitality and respect our expectations by signing the Letter of Agreement. Equality Ride officials stated that, while they would agree to not enter residence halls or distribute literature, they would not agree to only meet with designated people in a designated room; they want unsupervised access to roam the campus and meet with any student or community member. Because the Equality Ride officials have chosen not to accept our offer, we are considering not allowing them on our campus. We regret that they have chosen this course of action.”

The truth, as Covenant College stated (and learned), is that the Equality Riders don’t want so-called dialogue with people who are able to dialogue back with them on equal footing. They want to spray their false equality venom into the minds of students who are not ready for their overbearing techniques. This is because their worldview is anti-bible even though they claim to be Christian AND non-violent.  While Soulforce disengenously claims to be non-violent, it brands Christian schools that require students to abstain from all forms of sexual immorality –including homosexuality– as “spiritual violence”. Read how Soulforce and its allies define “spiritual violence”.

SAFE urges all schools on the target list to alert alum and parents to these tactics designed to lure Christian students into homosexual sin.

Michael Farris, the Chancellor of Patrick Henry College near Leesburg, VA told reporters after the 2007 Soulforce Equality Ride protest of his school that the group didn’t want “dialogue”, but intimidation:

It would be a fair question to ask today’s protestors: what has Patrick Henry College done to bring you here today? 

“There is only one answer to that question that occurs to me.  We have said that homosexual behavior is immoral.  There are two conclusions that can be drawn from this fact.  First, the objective of this group is not dialogue, but to silence our voice. 

The second conclusion that we can derive comes in response to a follow-up question: Why should they care that we say that homosexual behavior is immoral? 

The reason they care is because our voice coincides with their God-given conscience.  Their ultimate objective is not to drown out our voice in the public square—although they wish to do that as well.  Their ultimate objective is to drown out the voice of God in their own hearts. 

They cannot silence us without a fatal blow to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.  However, there are no circumstances under which they can silence the voice of their God-given conscience.”

SAFE encourages other school Chancellors and Presidents to echo this message to the press. Soulforce Equality Riders want to silence and intimidate the voices of Christians who excercise their first amendment right voice their beliefs about homosexual conduct.

Despite the pious public displays of hymn singing, bible readings, hand holding and bowed heads, the Equality Riders carry a deep hatred in their hearts for God’s truth. This isnt about true equality, its about an attempt to silence voices that students need to hear.