Is Focus pulling out of the “Culture Wars”?

The following is excerpted from WorldNewsDaily.com. We’ve already noted Focus on the Family’s illogical and unprincipled position on judges and homosexuality [see pro-family veteran Gary Glenn’s assessment HERE]. How ironic would it be if the ministry launched by the so widely respected James Dobson — which is now taking its biblical worldview “Truth Project” into hundreds of thousands of churches nationwide — were to suddenly lose its zeal for defending Truth against the Forces of Evil in the Culture War?! If the new, “kinder gentler” Focus translates into one that will present less of an obstacle to the wicked pro-abortion and pro-homosexuality movements, then Pastor Hutcherson is right about the direction of this ministry. It just seems implausible that after all its work to date, Focus will be able to retreat in any meaningful way from the Culture War.

We also suspect that Focus may be feeling the pull of George Barna’s polling research denigrating “religious right” activism (e.g., Barna Group President David Kinnaman’s and Gabe Lyon’s influential yet painfully shallow book UnChristian) and the appeasing liberal Christian “Emergents” — both of which appeal to younger generations of Christians who eschew the polarizing “culture war.”  In that regard, Focus has a choice: does it follow the worldly culture trends driven by these new generations — who, although they probably are loathe to admit it, are indoctrinated in politically correct,  “gay”-tolerant attitudes? Or does it recommit itself to educating these youth and standing boldly for timeless truths no matter where the culture is headed? (We realize there are many Christians who advocate quitting the cultural war against social evils, but they never have a good answer to this question: what about the hugely funded and powerful Homosexual, Abortion and Porn Lobbies that never quit; do we simply abandon America’s cultural/political landscape to them in a free society?)

I think Dr. Dobson would have opted for the latter, tougher course. That’s why he — like Hutcherson — is a target for hateful “queer” activists like Wayne Besen. Jim Daly may be less hated than Dobson, but that does not mean he will be more effective as a soldier in God’s Army. — Peter LaBarbera, www.AmericansForTruth.org

[Hutcherson column after jump…l

Priscilla Smith writes the following concerning Grove City College student David Bier’s letter accusing AFTAH of misleading people “into the belief that God disapproves of homosexuality”:

I think Mr. Bier’s e-mail ought to come to the attention of Grove City College Board and executives, for three reasons:

1. They are about to graduate a young man from their so-called Christian institution without teaching him that God not only disapproves of homosexuality, but He describes it as an abomination, unnatural, dishonorable, perversion, depravity.  (What is the school’s position?  What are they allowing professors to teach?) Not only is this young man either ignorant or defiant of Biblical truth, he is actually deluded into believing that those who embrace homosexuality are moral, while those who hold to the Biblical position (“homosexuality is sin”) are immoral. Isaiah 5:20 — “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” — comes to mind;

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Is renegade prof’s position on homosexuality the “official view of GCC”?

Editor’s Note: links have been added to the following letter sent by Steve Baldwin to Grove City College President Richard Jewell (Phone: 724-458-2500). For more contact information on GCC, go HERE.

From: “Steve Baldwin” [e-mail address withheld]
Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 13:35:55 -0800
To: <rgjewell@gcc.edu>
Subject: Message from Steve Baldwin

President Jewell:

Warren Throckmorton

We’ve met before when I was the Executive Director of the Council for National Policy.  I’ve been following the controversy involving your professor, Warren Throckmorton, and I have to say, Throckmorton is doing great damage to the reputation of Grove City College.

It’s bad enough having a professor who actively declares that homosexuality is just fine if the person in question is happy with himself.  That is simply not biblical and you know it.  It like saying alcoholics are fine the way they are as long as they’re happy with themselves.

But what’s worse is that he seems to have poisoned the minds of many of your students.  The email message below is from one of your students to Peter Labarbera [of Americans For Truth] and it just made me sick to my stomach:

AFTAH received the following letter from a Grove City College (GCC) student via e-mail this morning. It raises serious questions about what students are being taught about homosexuality at the “evangelical” college that advertises itself as “authentically Christian.” Links to our two articles on GCC associate professor Warren Throckmorton from Friday are beneath the letter:

_____________________________________

From:  “Bier, David J.” [GCC e-mail address]
Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 10:43:31 -0500
To: <americansfortruth@comcast.net>
Subject: Article on Warren Throckmorton

Dear Americans For Truth,

Your recent article on Grove City College professor Warren Throckmorton is yet another of your pathetic attempts to mislead otherwise moral individuals into the belief that God disapproves of homosexuality.  Your unsolicited attack on Throckmorton isn’t surprising, but you should still know that Throckmorton has the support of the student body here.  Perhaps one day you will realize that the only thing doing “incalculable harm to many young people” is your ignorant and hate-inspired position on homosexuality.  Throckmorton’s Golden Rule Pledge simply encourages to do as Jesus did: accept others as they are, not as we want them to be.

Thanks for your time,

-David Bier, Grove City College Senior

______________________________________

Related Americans For Truth articles:

• “Is Grove City College Still ‘Authentically Christian’ if It Abides Pro-’Gay’ Professor Warren Throckmorton and his ‘Sexual Identity Therapy’?”
• “Grove City College Prof Throckmorton Misapplies the Golden Rule on the ‘Day of Silence’”

Former homosexual Pete Lines discusses his childhood sexual abuse, his dangerous plunge into homosexual behavior and his redemptive delivery from it.

Pete Lines

NOTE: On Saturday, May 29 (6:00-9:00 PM), Pete Lines will be sharing his amazing life story as the presenter at AFTAH’s next dinner-lecture, at the Americans For Truth office at 25W560 Geneva Rd. (just west of Gary Rd.) in Carol Stream, IL. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from someone who defies the “gay” activist myth that homosexuals cannot leave the lifestyle behind. For more information or to let us know you are coming, e-mail Americans For Truth at americansfortruth@comcast.net. Spread the word to friends, co-workers and family!

______________________________________

This is an mp3 file.  Left click on the link below to play.  (Please be patient, depending upon the speed of your internet connection it may take a moment to load.)  OR right click the link then “save target as” to download.

3-6-10, Pete Lines, All

Therapeutic approach values “gay identity”

Would you want your child counseled at Grove City College? How can an evangelical Christian college like Grove City that claims to follow the Bible affirm a "gay" "sexual identity" that values "same-sex eroticism" -- especially for a person struggling in his conscience against homosexuality? The above excerpt is taken from Page 7 of GCC Professor Warren Throckmorton's (and Regent University's Mark Yarhouse's) paper, "Sexual Identity Therapy: Practice Guidelines for Sexual Identity Conflicts" (emphasis added).

TAKE ACTION: Contact Grove City College (President Richard Jewell: 724-458-2500; rgjewell@gcc.edu) and ask them if GCC professor Warren Throckmorton’s unorthodox views on homosexuality represent “authentically Christian” teachings on this issue. (GCC advertises itself as a solid, “authentically Christian” institution.) Request a written response as to whether Throckmorton’s writings on and approach toward homosexuality honor Grove City’s Christian charter “rejecting relativism and secularism.” Please share the response you receive with us at americansfortruth@comcast.net.

________________________________

By Peter LaBarbera

Folks, I had to laugh the other day when heretical Grove City College Assistant Prof Warren Throckmorton accused pro-family groups advocating a walkout on the nationwide, pro-homosexual “Day of Silence” with “mischief.” You see, “Mischief” is Throckmorton’s middle name. Here’s Warren taking a cheap shot at Americans for Truth About Homosexuality in one of his many Uganda posts.  (Note how Warren sounds like … well, a “gay” activist … in cynically accusing Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa of “tak[ing] his pornography show to church”; Ssempa was using video to warn fellow Ugandan Christians about the reality of homosexuality.)

The Gospel is still, amazingly, Good News

TAKE ACTION: Contact Grove City College (President Richard Jewell: 724-458-2500; rgjewell@gcc.edu) and ask them if GCC professor Warren Throckmorton’s unorthodox views on homosexuality represent “authentically Christian” teachings on this issue. (GCC advertises itself as a solid, “authentically Christian” institution.) Request a written response as to whether Throckmorton’s writings on and approach toward homosexuality honor Grove City’s Christian charter “rejecting relativism and secularism.” Please share the response you receive with us at americansfortruth@comcast.net.

______________________________

By Linda Harvey, www.missionamerica.com

A broad coalition of pro-family groups recommends that parents keep their children home on the deceptive, pro-homosexual “Day of Silence,” to be observed this year on April 16, 2010, but one “gay”-affirming counselor started what he calls the “Golden Rule Pledge” instead.

Yet, the “Golden Rule Pledge” actually functions as a disinformation tool and a divisive wedge in schools and among Christians. It is insidiously misleading and would bring harm to kids. It grieves me to take this position, but there’s no choice, because lives are at stake.

Dr. Warren Throckmorton (pictured above), a self-labeled “christian” counselor at Grove City College [contact GCC HERE], has indicated on a radio show he does not object to homosexuality when a person feels comfort with the lifestyle. My concern is that he may be communicating this to youth and college students whom he counsels, because his “Golden Rule” project takes a stand tolerant of this destructive and sinful behavior by encouraging student “respect.”

Mass Resistance founder Brian Camenker (left) with Mike Huckabee

Folks, I am delighted to be a speaker at the Mass Resistance banquet this Saturday evening. Mass Resistance founder Brian Camenker and MR blogger Amy Contrada are good friends who do critical work for the movement opposed to the normalization of homosexuality and gender confusion in our culture — especially among students. Both have demonstrated remarkable tenacity and dedication in pursuit of that mission. Brian is a longtime veteran of the pro-family movement who never backs down from a principled stance — a quality that, sadly, has led him to be held at arm’s length by other, more politically correct, “pro-family” groups that are quite willing to use MR’s research but can’t seem to match MR’s integrity.

The reason Brian and Amy are hated so much by the Libertine Left is that they — perhaps better than anyone in the country — chronicle the radical activities of the homosexual/transsexual movement using firsthand “gay” sources. And there is no shortage of material in Boston, where Mass Resistance is based. Camenker exposed the notorious GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) “Fistgate” scandal in 2000 — which jaded homosexual activists now love to make fun of but which shows precisely why parents must never trust their children to “gay”-affirming educators. And Amy has a wealth of information on the MR blog — including various exposés on the transsexual agenda and GLSEN founder Kevin Jennings, whose lifelong crusade has made schools across America “safe” for homosexual advocacy. (Jennings, now Obama’s “Safe Schools” chief, cynically uses student safety to advance GLSEN’s extreme agenda.)

I hope to see some of you at the MassResistance fundraising banquet Saturday, but whether you come or not, please donate to this outstanding organization. — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.org