Commenting on a column from USA Today accusing Oral Roberts University (ORU) of "bigotry" over its stance on sexual promiscuity, Albert Mohler warns Christian schools that they might suffer the same fate in the future if the trend continues.
Speaking on "The Briefing" on Thursday, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president discussed the way news columns frame issues to discredit Christian worldviews. Specifically, Mohler highlighted a column by USA Today written by Hemal Jhaveri who criticized Oral Roberts' policies on maintaining sexual purity.
Jhaveri said the "university's deeply bigoted anti-LGBTQ+ policies can't and shouldn't be ignored." She believed that this should be enough ground for the faith-based university to be banned from NCAA competition.
"Founded by televangelist Oral Roberts in 1963, the Christian school upholds the values and beliefs of its fundamentalist namesake, making it not just a relic of the past, but wholly incompatible with the NCAA's own stated values of equality and inclusion," she wrote.
Founded in Tulsa, Okla., ORU's mission is to "develop Holy Spirit-empowered leaders through whole person education to impact the world." Hence, their student handbook requires students to avoid "sexual promiscuity" including adultery, premarital sex and any homosexual behavior.
"Certain behaviors are expressly prohibited in Scripture and therefore should be avoided by members of the University community," the school's handbook says.
"That Oral Roberts wants to keep its students tied to toxic notions of fundamentalism that fetishize chastity, abstinence and absurd hemlines is a larger cultural issue that can be debated," Jhaveri submitted.
"What is not up for debate however is their anti-LGBTQ+ stance, which is nothing short of discriminatory and should expressly be condemned by the NCAA," she declared
Mohler cautioned that this is "an indictment of any Christian college, any Christian university, any institution, any chartered organization, any church and denomination that would dare to stand against, or even against the tide, of the moral revolution."
"Just imagine the language that was used in this article ... and recognize if it's said about Oral Roberts University today, it will be said about you, your school, your church, your organization, your Christian congregation, tomorrow. Count on it," he said in his podcast.
Noting that his own seminary in Louisville, Ky. has the same code of conduct, Mohler added that other religious groups like Orthodox Judaism, traditional Roman Catholicism, and even Islamic institution would get implicated in a society that shares Jhaveris' views.
Mohler also expressed concern about the NCAA adopting policies meant to cripple faith-based institutions' stand on Bible-based morality and definitions of gender. The responsibility, Mohler maintained, will still be on the shoulders of those leading the institutions as to what extent they will compromise.
"We're about to find out just how many Christian schools are going to be willing to stand on biblical standards, and those who are determined they have to be members of the NCAA, no matter what," said Mohler.
"In other words, we're about to find out just how many schools are actually serving the cause of sports, and how many are going to serve the cause of Christ," he emphasized.
