It seems obvious why Dr. Adasevic qualifies for this award, but you may be wondering about Ms. Dixon.
From her website we learn that Crystal Dixon's inspiration for writing the op ed was a divine mandate with which she awoke one morning:
In early April, 2008, I read an opinion piece by Mr. Michael Miller in the Toledo Free Press entitled “Gay Rights and Wrongs. I absolutely respected Mr. Miller’s right to express his opinion while at the same time, I disagreed with several of the points that he made. One of the freedoms that makes this country great and makes newspapers great, is the privilege of exchanging different points of view via public print communications. Early on Sunday, April 6, 2008, I arose with a divine mandate (you may understand the term as divine inspiration) to write my opinion, based on my Christian faith in response to Mr. Miller’s article. I wrote my personal opinion, based upon my Christian faith, rooted in the foundation of Holy Scripture which is my Constitutional right.
Ms. Dixon is being represented by the Thomas More Law Center and the announcement that she had filed suit was published in early December. I tried to find the op-ed she wrote in the Toledo Free Press, but they do not have an archive function. So here is the copy of the letter that Ms. Dixon has posted at her website.
4/18/2008
OPINION
GUEST OPINION
- The Toledo Free Press
Gay rights and wrongs: another perspective
By Crystal Dixon
I read with great interest Michael Miller's April 6 column, "Gay Rights and Wrongs."
I respectfully submit a different perspective for Miller and Toledo Free Press readers to consider.
First, human beings, regardless of their choices in life, are of ultimate value to God and should be viewed the same by others. At the same time, one's personal choices lead to outcomes either positive or negative.
As a Black woman who happens to be an alumnus of the University of Toledo's Graduate School, an employee and business owner, I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are "civil rights victims." Here's why. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a Black woman. I am genetically and biologically a Black woman and very pleased to be so as my Creator intended. Daily, thousands of homosexuals make a life decision to leave the gay lifestyle evidenced by the growing population of PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex Gays) and Exodus International just to name a few. Frequently, the individuals report that the impetus to their change of heart and lifestyle was a transformative experience with God; a realization that their choice of same-sex practices wreaked havoc in their psychological and physical lives. Charlene E. Cothran, publisher of Venus Magazine, was an aggressive, strategic supporter of gay rights and a practicing lesbian for 29 years, before she renounced her sexuality and gave Jesus Christ stewardship of her life. The gay community vilified her angrily and withdrew financial support from her magazine, upon her announcement that she was leaving the lesbian lifestyle. Rev. Carla Thomas Royster, a highly respected New Jersey educator and founder and pastor of Blessed Redeemer Church in Burlington, NJ, married to husband Mark with two sons, bravely exposed her previous life as a lesbian in a tell-all book. When asked why she wrote the book, she responded "to set people free... I finally obeyed God."
Economic data is irrefutable: The normative statistics for a homosexual in the USA include a Bachelor's degree: For gay men, the median household income is $83,000/yr. (Gay singles $62,000; gay couples living together $130,000), almost 80% above the median U.S. household income of $46,326, per census data. For lesbians, the median household income is $80,000/yr. (Lesbian singles $52,000; Lesbian couples living together $96,000); 36% of lesbians reported household incomes in excess of $100,000/yr. Compare that to the median income of the non-college educated Black male of $30,539. The data speaks for itself.
The reference to the alleged benefits disparity at the University of Toledo was rather misleading. When the University of Toledo and former Medical University of Ohio merged, both entities had multiple contracts for different benefit plans at substantially different employee cost sharing levels. To suggest that homosexual employees on one campus are being denied benefits avoids the fact that ALL employees across the two campuses regardless of their sexual orientation, have different benefit plans. The university is working diligently to address this issue in a reasonable and cost-efficient manner, for all employees, not just one segment.
My final and most important point. There is a divine order. God created human kind male and female (Genesis 1:27). God created humans with an inalienable right to choose. There are consequences for each of our choices, including those who violate God's divine order. It is base human nature to revolt and become indignant when the world or even God Himself, disagrees with our choice that violates His divine order. Jesus Christ loves the sinner but hates the sin (John 8:1-11.) Daily, Jesus Christ is radically transforming the lives of both straight and gay folks and bringing them into a life of wholeness: spiritually, psychologically, physically and even economically. That is the ultimate right.
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6 comments:
This woman has some profound insights that escape most of our population today, particularly this: "There is a divine order. God created human kind male and female (Genesis 1:27). God created humans with an inalienable right to choose. There are consequences for each of our choices, including those who violate God's divine order. It is base human nature to revolt and become indignant when the world or even God Himself, disagrees with our choice that violates His divine order."
The very concept of divine order is rejected almost universally in America today, and yet it is so ve4ry fundamental to understanding our whole situation. Everything about our nature and our relation to God flows from this, and without understanding this we are hopelessly confused.
She is also entirely correct in saying that there are consequences for our choices. This is considered heresy today, but that does not change the truth of the statement one bit.
This was an excellent post, Perpetua. Thank you.
I certainly would get tossed from the jury pool on this one. Fired for this!
I really would urge caution on falling too much in love with Dr. Adasevic. He's made statements that suggest it is really Serbian nationalism that prompted him to abandon the practice of abortion - that he stopped aborting babies because Serbia needs more soldiers to fight against their enemies. I'm afraid that he may be using religious language as a cover.
You can probably guess my opinion about Ms. Dixon. Besides her spurious claims for the "ex-gay" industry, I am naturally chary of people who claim "divine inspiration" no matter what side of the political fence they happen to be on. As it happens, however, I am against academic "speech codes," and hope she prevails in court.
Hi BillyD, Do you have a link so we can see what you are concerned about with Dr. Adasevic?
Perpetua, try this:
http://barthsnotes.wordpress.com/2008/11/16/new-interest-in-serbian-abortionist-turned-pro-life-advocate/
BillyD,
Thank you for the link. The words that have raised questions are from 1993 during the Bosnian War. Dr Adasevic was an ethnic Serbian in Bosnian. He is clearly conflating orthodox Christians and Serbians in the second writing.
"In order for the nation to survive, every woman must bear at least three children… “Those groups who praise free and planned parenthood, and the unchallengeable right of a woman to abortion, should not forget that in a state subject to the rule of law no one is the master of his own body, whether male or female. A woman must bear herself a replacement, and a man must go to war when the state summons him."
and
"the feminists’ agenda did not really seek to free women from the hands of illegal abortionist, but rather, their aim was to assist the biologic destruction of Christians. When the enemies of Serbian people could not manage to destroy us by other means, they decided to do it by biologic means…they don’t fight at all to free women from the hands of illegal abortionists, but, in fact, they fight for the biologic destruction of Orthodox and especially Serbian people."
If we think of Serbians as evil people who commit war crimes, this is disturbing, not because of his arguments, but because of our associations with Serbians.
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