“All people, regardless of sexual orientation, have the absolute right to be secure and live safely in the United States of America.”
That’s part of a statement by Gordon Robertson, CEO of the Christian Broadcasting Network, one of several by Christian broadcast leaders that were compiled and distributed in a press release from the organization National Religious Broadcasters Monday afternoon.
The cultural intersection of gay issues with religious beliefs and rights is a complicated, often fraught, one, while many Christian church leaders and broadcasters have an uneasy relationship with gay communities. NRB’s Statement of Faith states that marriage should be between one man and one woman; the statement requires NRB members, among other things, to “resist any and all same-sex sexual attractions” while also requiring them to “welcome and treat with respect, compassion and sensitivity all who experience same-sex attractions.”
The emphasis of NRB’s Monday statement was on prayer and support for the victims and their families.
President/CEO Dr. Jerry Johnson was quoted saying he and NRB members “are heartbroken” by the massacre. “Every person slain was an image-bear of God, worthy of dignity and respect.” NRB cited prayer and supportive statements from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the Southern Evangelical Seminary, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and the American Family Association.
Johnson also called for a greater commitment “to defeat Islamic terrorism.”
“We know enough today to note with great concern that terrorism in the name of Islam has again murdered and maimed on a horrific scale. Islamic terrorism will not tolerate any people, nation, religion, philosophy, or lifestyle that will not submit,” he said in the statement. “The United States and her allies must match that resolve with a greater commitment to defeat Islamic terrorism.”
