A group of religious leaders have joined together to issue a statement, calling for the California state legislature to drop a bill that would endanger the existence of Christian colleges.
Christian blogger Denny Burk writes that the bill would prevent federal funding from going to Christian colleges in California if they continue to maintain a biblical view of sexuality. If passed, the bill would signal the end of Christian higher education in the state.
To counteract this measure, a number of prominent religious leaders have joined together to oppose it and to petition the state to drop the bill.
Some of the leaders who have signed their name to the statement, which, The Gospel Coalition notes, is spearheaded by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, are Russell Moore, Rick Warren, Jim Daly, Barry Corey, and Al Mohler.
Christian leaders weren’t the only ones to add their names to the statement, however. Muslim and Jewish leaders also joined the effort, fearing that censorship of Christian education could lead to censorship of other forms of religious education.
The statement from the religious leaders explained the disastrous effect Senate Bill 1146 would have on religious education and went on to say, “While we do not all agree on religious matters, we all agree that the government has no place in discriminating against poor religious minorities or in pitting a religious education institution’s faith-based identity against its American identity.”
Publication date: August 10, 2016
