Erskine College Volleyball Players Speak On School’s Statement on Homosexuality
Two Erskine College volleyball players, Drew Davis and Juan Varona, spoke about the recent statement released by their school condemning homosexuality. The South Carolina’s private Christian school released the statement last week reaffirming its belief that human sexuality should follow scripture, defining a marriage between a man and a woman. Both Davis and Varona came out as gay last year.
Here is part of what the statement said:
The scriptural view of human sexuality is that God formed man and woman in His image (Gen. 1:27-28), and these two were to become one flesh (Gen. 2:23-24). Christ affirms that marital union is to be between a man and woman (Matt 19:4-6). The Bible teaches that monogamous marriage between a man and a woman is God’s intended design for humanity and that sexual intimacy has its proper place only within the context of marriage (1 Thes. 4:3-5, Col. 3:5-7). Sexual relations outside of marriage or between persons of the same sex are spoken of in scripture as sin and contrary to the will of the Creator (Rom. 1:26-27; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; 1 Tim. 1:9-11).
Reaction from those outside the college has been mostly negative.
Erskine College shouldn't be allowed to promote its athletics with the words "Come out and support…"
— Gregor Walz (@G_Walz) February 27, 2015
Next up: Erskine bans Galileo. Erskine, After 2 Athletes Come Out, Bans Gay Sexuality @insidehighered https://t.co/7wT5vMawZY
— AFEWS (@AFEWS) February 27, 2015
If you cherry pick the bible to keep gay people out or marginalized then yes you are a bigot. http://t.co/F5SKI8AFWp
— GerrenT (@gerren) February 27, 2015
Because of the negative reactions, Erskine College issued another statement saying:
This statement describes a position. It does not prescribe a policy and does not ‘ban’ any individual or class of individuals from attending Erskine. No students have been asked to leave Erskine based on this statement.
Furthermore, with respect to all applicable anti-discrimination laws and regulations, Erskine does not discriminate against any protected categories of individuals in the administration of its policies, programs, or activities.
The intent of this statement is not to reverse or undermine this familial aspect of Erskine’s community. Erskine has been and is a distinctly Christian academic community where all types of students are welcome.
Our conduct policies do not stipulate any minimum mandatory sanctions (such as expulsion) for any behavior or belief. Like most colleges, we base our student conduct policies on educational and restorative principles that seek the ultimate well-being of both individual students and the campus community as a whole.
A position establishes a point of reference. People both within and outside the Erskine community will no doubt agree or disagree with a position on any issue. This position statement provides a context for dialogue about these issues and how they affect our campus community.
This dialogue can and should be pursued with civility and respect, as noted in the statement itself.
The statement seeks to address the broader subject of human sexuality — and to do so in keeping with our theological tradition both in terms of content and context for discussion.