Private university that called for ‘civil discussions’ over differences canceled Christian ministry group over traditional views of sexuality

One of the original targets of cancel culture says a private university nixed a scheduled event over the ministry’s reaffirmation of its traditional stances on sexuality and marriage.

Promise Keepers (PK), the men’s ministry which has long been the target of anti-Christian groups, said that Belmont University canceled the event citing “a conflict in values.”

Belmont is a non-denominational Christian university in Nashville, which previously cut ties with the Tennessee Baptist Convention in 2012.

The conflict between Belmont and the men’s ministry stemmed from a statement where PK affirmed “its support for the Biblical, biological, sexual identity of male and female, man and woman, in the context of marriage,” said a statement by PK. 

Belmont hosts a variety of liberal, progressive initiatives, such as Belmont Bridge Builders, which was “established for the expressed purpose of fostering community and discussion between the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community on campus and the university at large,” according to the website. 

In 2014, the college, reversed its long held traditional Christian views about sexuality and marriage, adding sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy after the LGBTQ lobby protested the alleged firing of a lesbian soccer coach who said she was having a child with her lesbian lover, according to Fox News. 

Belmont also hosts the Full Gospel Baptist Community, which says it works for expanded access to voting; ranked choice voting; the reversal of Citizens United v. FEC; “full access” to the federal budget for “Black America”; elimination of the debt ceiling and other progressive policy objectives. 

But at least one on-campus ministry’s statement of faith at Belmont agrees with PK’s views on sexuality and marriage. The school hosts the University Catholic at Belmont. The Catholic Church still holds traditional views on matters of sex and marriage. 

That’s not the only indication of hypocrisy by Belmont leadership, according to critics. 

Last year, the president of Belmont, Dr. L. Gregory Jones, said “citizens of all ages must learn the skills to engage – meaningfully – with someone who shares different opinions.”

“In a culture where polarization is rampant and civil discussions disappearing, we need to relearn how to meaningfully disagree,” Jones wrote in the Tennessean.

For his part, PK Chairman and CEO Ken Harrison says he reached out to Belmont leadership to pursue that kind of respectful dialogue, just as Jones suggested. 

Harrison said he has yet to hear back from the university about the proposed dialogue.  

PK board member Samuel Rodriguez, who also pastors a large church in California, says Belmont’s decision to cancel the event shows it is more interested in “political and cultural expediency” than truth. 

“Wokeism and ‘cancel culture’ are completely incompatible with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” he told The Lion in statement. “By canceling Promise Keepers, Belmont University demonstrated that truth can unfortunately be sacrificed on the altar of political and cultural expediency.”

Promise Keepers is hosting a series of events this year, titled “Daring Faith.” Events are scheduled for Houston, Memphis and New York City, with additional stops in other cities across the country. Among these stops was Belmont University, said a statement by PK.   

Belmont claims to be the “largest ecumenical Christian university in the U.S.” 

Emails sent to Dr. Jones by The Lion were not answered as of publication.