Nebraska football coach: I’d rather be fired than retract homosexuality remarks
LINCOLN, Nebraska, May 3, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - University of Nebraska’s assistant football coach, Ron Brown, who is facing censure and calls for his dismissal for publicly expressing his biblically-based views against the homosexual lifestyle, has stated that he’d rather be fired than retract his comments.
At a meeting of Omaha City Council in late March, Brown spoke against a proposed ordinance that would give special “protected status” to homosexual students. Brown argued that granting special status to one group would infringe on the rights of other groups. He told the council members that their “discernment” was under scrutiny and that they would be held to “great accountability for the decision you are making.”
Ron Brown
“The question I have for you all is, like Pontius Pilate, what are you going to do with Jesus?” Brown reportedly asked the council. “Ultimately, if you don’t have a relationship with him, and you don’t really have a Bible-believing mentality, really, anything goes… At the end of the day it matters what God thinks most.”
Brown expressed his belief in the Bible’s condemnation of homosexual acts as sinful, then stated, “the real question I guess I have for you all is – what does God say?”
“For those of you on this council who have a relationship with Christ, and you know if you do, you will be held to great accountability for the decision you make,” Brown concluded in his three-minute address to the council.
His remarks sparked outrage among homosexual advocates and resulted in Barbara Baier of the Lincoln Board of Education issuing a written demand to the University of Nebraska administration calling for Brown to be sacked.
Brown responded, “To be fired for my faith would be a greater honor than to be fired because we didn’t win enough games,” according to an AP report.
“I haven’t lost any sleep over it. I realize at some point, we live in a politically correct enough culture where that very well could happen.”
According to AP, Brown further stated he isn’t “picking on” homosexuals, he is just responding to the homosexual agenda that has appeared in American culture.
“I have simply said that based on the Bible, homosexuality, the lifestyle of homosexuality, is a sin,” he said. “That has created a flame within itself. But I’ve decided I’m not going to be afraid of people calling me a bigot or a homophobic or narrow-minded out of a simple, gentle, compassionate expression of the truth of God’s word. I’m not going to be bought off by that.”
University of Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne told AP he does not have a problem with Brown’s public stance. “I think it’s important that there be clarity with what you do in your capacity at the university and what you do as a private citizen,” Osborne said.
Contact information:
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
1400 R Street
Lincoln, NE 68588
Phone: 402-472-7211
1400 R Street
Lincoln, NE 68588
Phone: 402-472-7211
Lincoln Board of Education
P.O. Box 82889
Lincoln, NE 68501
P.O. Box 82889
Lincoln, NE 68501
Barbara A. Baier
Lincoln Board of Education member
727 South 18th Street
Lincoln, NE 68508
Email: bbaier@lps.org
Lincoln Board of Education member
727 South 18th Street
Lincoln, NE 68508
Email: bbaier@lps.org
