Beyond The Pulpit Ministries

I’m usually not one to go poking at a sleeping bear, but a recent development here in Akron leaves me no choice but to aim my metaphorical stick toward the nose of a proverbial grizzly.

A few weeks ago, Akron Public School Board Member Carla Jackson was lambasted by the local paper for a few social media posts she made to her personal (although publicly accessible) accounts.  Apparently, Jackson posted videos of a California parent objecting to the notion of school officials talking to her children about their preferred gender identities, and another post about a formerly transgender person who admits to having been converted from that lifestyle through a spiritual encounter.

Jackson is the principal at Emmanuel Christian Academy, and in a lengthy interview with the local newspaper, she said her views are buoyed by her Christian faith.  The newspaper excoriated her, however, implicitly associating her with some right-wing conservatives and others who think allowing children to profess gay and transgender lifestyles is tantamount to some sort of pedophilia.

Jackson doesn’t deserve that comparison.  

“Just as supporters of LGBTQIA+ lifestyles are entitled to live out their beliefs, so, too, should (Christians) and others be allowed to live out and express their beliefs as well.”

As an avowed Christian, she said her beliefs are in keeping with the tenets of her faith — a right to which every American is entitled in a country that espouses freedom of speech and freedom of religion.  Just as supporters of LGBTQIA+ lifestyles are entitled to live out their beliefs, so, too, should Jackson and others enjoy the right to live out and express their beliefs as well.

Our society has been described as a marketplace of ideas, but any business that only offers a single product or a singular lifestyle isn’t a marketplace, but a specialty store.  It can be like looking for a gallon of milk at Radio Shack.

Bible-believing Christians ought not be vilified just because we hold different world views than others.  When did we arrive at a place in this country where a divergent viewpoint on issues like human sexuality automatically condemns people to the trash heap of public opinion? Or even the object of a cancel culture?

Jackson, through her posts, was merely expressing the belief that there do exist some formerly LGBTQIA+ individuals who profess to have been transformed from their prior lifestyles; and her view that parents ought to be consulted about weighty decisions regarding their children’s sexuality.

Just a few months before the newspaper article, Jackson’s was the lone vote against two Akron school board policies that affirmed staff and student rights to use their chosen names and pronouns at school.  Some in our society think this is going too far, especially with respect to children.

But just because you might disagree with Jackson and others who share her views, doesn’t make them enemies. Jackson is at least a woman with the courage of her convictions. 

What’s wrong with consulting parents about a child’s gender identity?  Schools would never baptize a child without parental consent; indeed, the doctrine of separation of church and state prohibit that sacrament.  Even in the secular world, we require adult supervision for minors to view R-rated movies. 

LGBTQIA+ supporters in our society aren’t forced to accept Christian doctrine, and neither should Christians be compelled to accept LGBTQIA+ doctrines or beliefs. Furthermore, neither should even expect the other to do so.

No amount of approved school policies or Supreme Court opinions will change what devout Christians believe about human sexuality – that’s why they call it faith.  Similarly, no amount of Christian preaching (or social media posting for that matter, Ms. Jackson), is likely to change the views of someone committed to an LGBTQIA+ lifestyle.

We can all still exist side by side with no one belief system prevailing over the other.  In the words of the late Rodney King, “Why can’t we all just get along?” Even if we don’t all agree.

Maybe we’d all be well advised to just let sleeping bears lie.