A new California bill is the reason Summit Ministries has decided to cancel their upcoming conference at Biola University outside of Los Angeles.
The Ministry is being forced to cancel due to the possibility that what they teach will go against the new California law.
About the Law
AB 2943 an Assembly Bill that states that any book or conference that preaches against things like homosexuality or transgenderism cannot be allowed.
California School District Says Parents Can’t Opt Children Out of Controversial Sex Ed Courses
AB 2943 states that any biblical books (including the Bible) cannot be taught, and anyone who does will risk being penalized. Same goes for preaching at a conference, hence why Summit Ministries had to cancel their conference at Biola University.
Randy Thomasson, the president of SaveCalifornia.com, stated,
“Whenever a pastor or a church or a para-church ministry holds a conference or an event or sells a book or video about overcoming same-sex desires or gender confusion, that could indeed be banned.”
He continued that eventually, the bill could even include Bibles because of the teaching within.
“This is because AB 2943 is only triggered when money is being exchanged for ‘sexual orientation change efforts,’ and there is no exemption for religious institutions or religious material. Could that include selling Bibles? Possibly, but not likely; much more likely to be targeted are speakers, books, and videos helping people get out of homosexuality and transsexuality,” he continued.
Summit’s President, Jeff Myers released a statement on April 30, detailing why the group had to cancel their conference.
“Summit’s program helps students develop an intelligent, defensible Christian worldview before they go to college,” Summit President Jeff Myers explained. “Our speakers are leading Christian experts who base their presentations on theology as well as sociology, psychology and science. But the wording of AB2943 is a dog whistle to the left that intelligent Christians holding traditional views are fair game for discrimination, smears and frivolous lawsuits.”
Myer’s explained that the program being presented at Biola University falls under the sanctions of the proposed law because the conference includes defending traditional marriage. The Ministry is often asked at these conference about how one should go about defending traditional marriage, in the context of Christianity, and that goes against the proposed law. Myers stated they are being forced to cancel the entire conference because of AB 2943 not allowing them to preach what they had planned.
“What are we going to say to a young person experiencing sexual confusion?” he asked. “That the state of California forbids us from allowing a biblical ethic embraced by billions of people for thousands of years to inform our answer?”
“California state authorities are hijacking good-faith concerns about reparative therapy to deny constitutional protection to those who hold traditional views of sexuality and marriage,” Myers added. “We cannot and will not bend God’s truth to accommodate the state of California.
Summit Ministries has been hosting conferences for more than 55 years, and this is the first time they will have to cancel because of a state law.
“This is the most blatant chilling of free speech in America in my lifetime,” Myer’s stated.