After Pressure, World Vision Reverses Policy on Hiring Gays
By Julio
Severo
After a backlash
from Evangelicals, World Vision, an international nonprofit ministry, has
reversed its decision to allow those in same-sex marriages to be employed.
“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,” the board said in the letter.
The quick
reversal was result of a firestorm of heavy criticism from Christian leaders.
These leaders denounced
the charity’s decision to hire applicants in same-sex marriages. World Vision’s
president, Richard Stearns, had said the move was not “symbolic not of compromise
but of [Christian] unity.”
But Evangelical
leaders like Franklin Graham, president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and the
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, dismissed Stearn’s reasoning.
“World Vision
maintains their decision is based on unifying the church — which I find
offensive — as if supporting sin and sinful behavior can unite the Church,”
Franklin wrote on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association website.
In addition, the
head of Assemblies of God in the U.S., George Wood, had called for its members
to shift their support to other charities. He said, “Far from promoting
Christian unity, the policy change enlists World Vision on the liberal
Protestant side of the same-sex marriage debate as opposed to that of
Pentecostal and Evangelical churches in the U.S., not to mention Pentecostal
and Evangelical churches worldwide.”
Stearns said the
board of World Vision had been praying about the decision for years, and the
result was to allow “married” gay Christians. But in the letter to supporters
Wednesday leaders admitted they had not sought enough counsel from their
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,” they said.
“While World
Vision U.S. stands firmly on the biblical view of marriage, we strongly affirm
that all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, are created by God and
are to be loved and treated with dignity and respect,” they said.
A fifth of the
World Vision funding comes from the U.S. government. But most of its funding
comes from Evangelicals and while they are a majority of donors, World Vision
will have a hard time accepting items from the gay agenda.
Yet, what will
happen if the U.S. government, which has been an avid
advocate of the homosexual imperialism, increases substantially its
funding?
Then, as now, we
should increase our pressure. It is exactly this pressure that made World
Vision reverse its foolish decision allowing “married” gay Christians.
A little
pressure could also help World Vision in Brazil, whose director, Ariovaldo
Ramos, said,
“Everybody who, in everyplace, fights against poverty,
for the human liberation, for justice and rights available to everybody had, in
Hugo Chávez, a reference of commitment to the poor and the oppressed.”
He also said,
“The best we could say of someone is that, because he
lived here, the world became better! We can say this of Hugo Chávez!”
Now the director
of World Vision Brazil would be wise to imitate its U.S. sister organization and
reverse his stupid praise for a Marxist strongman and his stupid support of
Marxist causes.
With information from CBN.News, ChristianPost and
Ariovaldo Ramos’ public statements.
Portuguese
version of this article: Após pressão, Visão Mundial revoga
política sobre contratação de homossexuais
Source: Julio
Severo in English
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