World Vision, a billion-dollar Christian non-profit that made major headlines this week after announcing it would hire gay people in same-sex marriages, has just reversed its decision. The religious right and anti-gay hate groups had exploded in outrage, attacking the children’s charity for its support of its gay employees, in what it saw as direct defiance of God.
In a letter of apology to the religious right that was just released, World Vision’s president and their chairman of the board write they “have listened to you and want to say thank you and to humbly ask for your forgiveness.”
Today, the World Vision U.S. board publicly reversed its recent decision to change our employment conduct policy. The board acknowledged they made a mistake and chose to revert to our longstanding conduct policy requiring sexual abstinence for all single employees and faithfulness within the Biblical covenant of marriage between a man and a woman.
In our board’s effort to unite around the church’s shared mission to serve the poor in the name of Christ, we failed to be consistent with World Vision U.S.’s commitment to the traditional understanding of Biblical marriage and our own Statement of Faith, which says, “We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.” And we also failed to seek enough counsel from our own Christian partners. As a result, we made a change to our conduct policy that was not consistent with our Statement of Faith and our commitment to the sanctity of marriage.
We are brokenhearted over the pain and confusion we have caused many of our friends, who saw this decision as a reversal of our strong commitment to Biblical authority. We ask that you understand that this was never the board’s intent. We are asking for your continued support. We commit to you that we will continue to listen to the wise counsel of Christian brothers and sisters, and we will reach out to key partners in the weeks ahead.
Before today’s flip-flop, the religious right attacked. Calling the policy change to support equality “open rebellion,” the president of the certified anti-gay hate group Family Research Council, Tony Perkins, penned an op-ed stating World Vision had “walked away from one of the greatest legacies in Christian ministry, trading a vision to reach the world for the world’s vision of marriage.”
Billy Graham’s son Franklin Graham, speaking with Perkins, called the move to support their gay employees, “offensive, as if supporting sin and sinful behavior can unite the church.”
World Vision describes itself as “a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.” In 2012 it had revenues of just over one billion dollars, according to Charity Navigator.
World Vision U.S. president Richard Stearns had told employees of the initial change in a letter on Monday, He reasoned, “since World Vision is a multi-denominational organization that welcomes employees from more than 50 denominations, and since a number of these denominations in recent years have sanctioned same-sex marriage for Christians, the board—in keeping with our practice of deferring to church authority in the lives of our staff, and desiring to treat all of our employees equally—chose to adjust our policy. Thus, the board has modified our Employee Standards of Conduct to allow a Christian in a legal same-sex marriage to be employed at World Vision.”
Christianity Today had interviewed World Vision U.S. president Richard Stearns, who explained Monday’s change in policy.
“Changing the employee conduct policy to allow someone in a same-sex marriage who is a professed believer in Jesus Christ to work for us makes our policy more consistent with our practice on other divisive issues,” he said. “It also allows us to treat all of our employees the same way: abstinence outside of marriage, and fidelity within marriage.”
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Stearns asserts that the “very narrow policy change” should be viewed by others as “symbolic not of compromise but of [Christian] unity.” He even hopes it will inspire unity elsewhere among Christians.
It did not.
And even the small-time haters saw an opportunity to get into the act.
Peter LaBarbera of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, also a certified anti-gay hate group, issued a dramatic press release, calling World Vision’s decision to hire people in same-sex marriages “a stunning capitulation to a powerful Sin Movement,” “a distinctly anti-Biblical position for an organization that professes ‘Jesus is Lord,'” and “stunningly dishonest and illogical in its double-speak.”
Anti-gay profession hater Michael Brown wrote that World Vision’s embrace of equality was “a betrayal of the gospel, a betrayal of the Lord, a betrayal of the family, and a betrayal of the countless thousands of Christians who have put their trust in World Vision as a legitimate Christian organization.”
There are no reports of the financial implications, but no doubt the religious right made it clear, and the cost no doubt was just too great.
From Hobby Lobby to anti-gay hate groups, when anyone strays past the bounds of the hate of the religious right, they will work tirelessly to attack. They claim the left is intolerant. The true intolerance is demonstrated by their attacks. Religious liberty? Not if you go outside the bounds of the religious right. Religious freedom? That’s a joke. Free markets? If you’re part of the religious right, you’re never free.
Image: World Vision via Twitter