A California high school teacher has willingly resigned after receiving intense backlash over his Christian views on sexuality. Michael Stack taught special education at San Luis Obispo High School before a letter he wrote to the school newspaper sparked outrage among students, LifeSite News reported.
Last month, Stack wrote a letter to the editor of the online student newspaper, Expressions, regarding the May issue, which focused on LGBT topics and featured a photo of two girls kissing.
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In his letter, Stack cites the entire text of Romans 1:16-32, in which the Apostle Paul condemns homosexual activity and notes that those who engaged in it “suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved,” “as a result of this sin.”
“It describes a deception that has happened in the past, and is happening again right now, not only at SLOHS, but throughout the world,” Stack writes.
In the passage, Paul describes a sinful, stubborn, people who “knew God” but “wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks.”
“As a result, their minds became dark and confused,” it reads. “Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.”
Since these people “thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done,” it continues.
The passage specifically addresses homosexual activity between women and between men as sins that resulted from this abandonment of God.
“They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy,” it concludes. “They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”
In his letter, Stack says that he wrote these things “in order to lift up those who have stumbled, or may stumble, and put you back on the right path.”
“I love the staff and students at SLOHS. My students know that,” he says. “But I love God more, so in obedience to Him, I am writing this letter.”
Despite his best intentions, Stack’s letter unleashed the wrath of the LGBT community.
San Luis Obispo Mayor Heidi Harmon, joined others in condemning the letter, and by promoting and participating in a pro-LGBT protest at the school. In a Facebook post, Harmon called the letter “unacceptable.”
But SLOHS officials stood by Stack, stating that teachers and students “do not shed their First Amendment rights” at school.
“We applaud the high school’s commitment to open dialogue and a free exchange of ideas in its student newspaper,” San Luis Coastal Unified School District Superintendent Eric Prater and Principal Leslie O’Connor said in a joint statement. “ … In a similar manner, we acknowledge the right of our staff to voice their opinions.”
Speaking the Teen Vogue, Expressions Editor-in-Chief Aric Sweeney said that even though he disagrees with Stack’s view, “it’s important to give him a voice.”
Unfortunately, there were plenty who didn’t feel Stack deserved a voice. On May 11, the day of protest, someone called in a death threat for him to the school. Stack resigned that same day.
“The community apparently wants me out,” Stack wrote in an email to the school, announcing his resignation, “so I hereby grant them their desires.”
“I exercised my First Amendment rights and submitted my opinion in a public forum,” he continued. “Now people are exercising their First Amendment rights by responding to that letter. This is how America is designed to function.”
(H/T: LifeSite News)