Students again question PLNU’s acceptance of LGBTQ community

Point Loma Nazarene University’s decision to limit the screening of a documentary on the Bible and homosexuality has angered students who say the move disrespects the gay community and has a chilling effect on freedom of expression and academic research.

The outcry is the latest in a series of controversies that have strained relations between the small private Christian school above Sunset Cliffs and members and supporters of the LGBTQ+ community.

The tension also comes as the reclusive university, affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene, attempts to hire a new leader and plans to ask the public and industry for millions of dollars in donations to help it thrive and to develop.

The new controversy concerns a little-known documentary that challenges the idea that the Bible teaches that homosexuality is a sin, based on what the film says is a translation error that has fueled an anti-Christian movement. gay.

“1946: The Mistranslation That Changed Culture” focuses on how the word “homosexual” was translated by biblical scholars when it was first added to the Revised Standard Version of the Bible in 1946. Translators removed the word in 1971 and replaced it with “sexual perverts”, which the film says didn’t help.

Voices of Love, an LGBTQ+ group at PLNU, has scheduled a public screening of the film on April 4 at the Crill Performance Center. But three days before, the group said, the university asked them to cancel it.

The directors partly blamed themselves for the decision, saying they had failed to pre-screen the film. PLNU also said it did not have enough staff available for the event.

But students seemed more concerned about a third reason given by Mary Paul, vice president for student life.

In an email to The Point, the campus newspaper that first reported on the controversy, Paul said organizing a campus-wide screening of a work of Bible translation would require the presence of academics and theologians capable of proposing different conclusions.

This alluded to the school’s affiliation with the Church of the Nazarene, which believes that sexual relations should only take place between a man and a woman. University policy prohibits hiring faculty or staff who disclose that they are in same-sex marriages.

The university allowed Voices of Love to screen the documentary in a relatively small venue. About 90 people from across campus showed up to the screening Wednesday.

But the student group opposes the university limiting its right to explore the topic more publicly and question the Church’s teaching on LGBT people.

“I think those in power are afraid of what it would mean to get it wrong,” said Sarah Bell, who co-directs VOL with castmates Ellie Carlson and Karissa Cloyes. “Realizing that perhaps one of your core beliefs is based on something completely unbiblical and unloving presents a whole can of worms that many would choose not to open.”

To Bell, the university’s decision seems rooted in fear.

“God calls us to overcome this fear to live a more fulfilled life in Christ,” she said. “Currently, the institution as a whole is not interested in overcoming fear, because fear is essential to maintaining power and control. »

Speaking collectively in an emailed statement, Bell, Carlson and Cloyes said the LGBTQ+ community on campus “experiences constant alienation and adversity, unknown to the majority of the student body.”

They also pointed to recent upheaval on campus sparked by other crackdowns on protests in support of LGBTQ+ people over the past year.

These incidents included the firing of Theology Dean Mark Maddix as part of a complex dispute involving his support of a former adjunct professor who had publicly expressed support for LGBTQ+ people.

Shortly thereafter, Seldon “Dee” Kelley III, senior pastor of a campus Nazarene church, lost his job for publicly expressing disagreement with the church’s opposition to same-sex marriage.

“It appears that staff and faculty are unsure of the boundaries of acceptable speech,” Bell, Carlson and Cloyes said. “This lack of clarity also impacts the student body, creating an environment in which some may feel encouraged to openly discriminate against LGBTQ+ people. »

Charis Johnston, editor-in-chief of The Point, also said the controversies had had a chilling impact on citizens’ freedom of expression.

“Many staff and faculty do not want to speak out publicly, especially regarding coverage of LGBTQ+ issues, and if they do, it is political, cautious and scripted,” he said. she declared.

PLNU President Bob Brower, who will retire in June, declined to discuss these issues with the Union-Tribune.

A campus spokesperson said Paul and Jack Gilbertson, the dean of students, were also unavailable for interviews.