Harvard University Attaches Itself to Extreme Anti-Gay, Anti-Islam Hatred

Got any plans for April 1-2? If you happen to be in Cambridge, Massachusetts, you can attend an event hosted at Harvard University featuring some of the most vocal, aggressive, and virulent leaders from the religious right -- people who blame homosexuality, Islam, and women's rights for the downfall of America, and who have financial ties to efforts in Uganda to pass an Anti-Homosexuality Bill that would institute the death penalty or life imprisonment for LGBT people.

Given the April 1 date, one wishes this were an April Fool's joke. It sadly is not, with the Harvard University name and shield branded all over the event's page. It's known as the Social Transformation Conference, and it's being put on in partnership with the Harvard University Extension Service and Leadership Society, a group that seeks to engage Harvard Extension School students in opportunities for public service. It's open to the entire Harvard University community from all schools, and will focus extensively on a biblical concept known as "Reclaiming the 7 Mountains of Culture," an effort by radically conservative activists to "reclaim" institutions like academia, the government, entertainment, and more in the name of God.

If you're feeling some red flags pop up right about now, it's for good reason. A list of the names of scheduled speakers is enough to make one wonder whether Harvard University would consider hosting Rev. Fred Phelps for Class Day.

Take, for instance, Dr. Lance Wallnau, who is a featured speaker at this Harvard show. Wallnau's bio includes his stint as a petroleum industry executive and his role as founder of the Lance Learning Group. What it does not include, however, is the fact that Wallnau has deeply radical and extreme beliefs regarding homosexuality, Islam, and reproductive rights for women. Wallnau has ties to Cindy Jacobs (yes, the Cindy Jacobs who suggested that birds were falling out of the sky because Congress repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"), and as recently as 2010, was on record with the following message:

"You've got Islam invading the United States. So you've got your homosexual activity, your abortion activity here, Islam coming in, you've got a financial collapse -- all of this, to those of us who are Christians, is an apocalyptic confirmation that when you remove God from public discourse, when you don't line up your thinking with kingdom principles, you inevitably hit an iceberg like the Titanic and you go down," Wallnau said. For good measure, he also referred to same-sex marriage as "hellish," and something that could help Satan catch grasp of the United States. Sounds exactly like the type of voice that the nation's most revered academic institution should be holding up, right?

Another speaker at the Harvard conference in April is Os Hillman, who is President and Founder of a group called Marketplace Leaders Ministries, which merges business, capitalism and faith in a way that would make even Joel Osteen salivate a little. But what's not in Hillman's bio is that he's a close colleague and financial backer of a minister in Uganda named Julius Oyet, who next to Martin Ssempa has perhaps been the most vocal religious leader urging for passage of the country's Anti-Homosexuality Bill, colloquially known as the "Kill the Gays" bill. In fact, according to the mouth of Oyet himself, he was involved in helping formulate the Anti-Homosexuality Bill: "I have been part of the brains behind it. We worked on it. We planned who should propose it. It is the Ugandan’s bill. It is the culture of Uganda to keep purity."

Wow. These two alone are worth mammoth red flags springing from the earth in Cambridge. But there are others, too. Larry Bizette from Antioch Family Church will be there. This is the same Larry Bizette who has gone on record saying that same-sex couples will destroy the institution of marriage. Bizette also added his name to a sign-on statement in opposition to efforts to recognize the LGBT community in Baton Rouge. That statement (pdf) said that cities should not recognize LGBT people, because in doing so condones a "behavior" that is "sinful" and "not natural."

There's Dr. Jerry Anderson from the La Red Business Network, which adheres to a "morality" policy that believes in the following: "God made man and beast as male and female for reproductive purposes. It is only the human that practices homosexuality. Only humans become addicted to drugs and alcohol and plan abortions. It may be legal or politically correct, but these things are still morally wrong." (Note: Uh, it's totally not only the human species that practices homosexuality. But we'll save that for another post.)

And to save the best for last, there's Dr. Bill Hamon from the Christian International Ministries Network (CIMN). Dr. Hamon makes Mike Huckabee look like the grand marshal of a pride parade. Check out some of his nuggets of wisdom: On this page on his Web site, Dr. Hamon compares homosexuality to sex with animals and incest, and suggests that those "guilty" of homosexuality should receive the death penalty, per God's wishes. And per the CIMN mission statement, "God instituted monogamous marriage between male and female as the foundation of the family, the basic structure of human society. For this reason homosexuality is an abomination before God." And they're featuring commentary on their Web site that lauds the passage of Proposition 8, and urges Christians to get down on their knees and pray that same-sex marriage never becomes a reality in the United States.

What a total package of hatred getting ready to descend on the campus of Harvard University. So why is the University and the Harvard Extension Service and Leadership Society allowing their name and images to be branded to an event featuring such a high dose of bigotry? That's a great question. Because if the mission of the Harvard Extension Service and Leadership Society is to be conciliatory, focus on public service, and host events on the topic of negotiation, it's hard to see how the speakers at this event contribute to that mission. Because by and large, these are speakers who want to overturn inclusive policies at Harvard that welcome and celebrate the diversity of all students on campus.

In fact, the event's Web site even says as much, suggesting that Harvard is in spiritual decay, and must be saved by the power of Christ. Seriously? And the University is sponsoring this event and allowing campus resources to be dedicated to it?

It's time to send a message to Harvard University, and the Harvard Extension Service and Leadership Society that hosting these kinds of speakers on campus is only legitimizing dangerous and damaging theological perspectives that continue to dehumanize LGBT people, Muslims, women, and many other "others" who don't fit the mold of these very conservative, rigid faith leaders. There are better ways to talk about public service and social entrepreneurship than catering to elements who foster such hatred and bigotry toward people of a different gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or faith.

As Truth Wins Out notes, "Let’s hope that LGBT advocates ... will stand up to these biblical bullies and let people know that their presence at Harvard is poison ivy." Let's send that message now by clicking here.

And to check out a rather frightening video from some of the speakers at this conference (as well as some visionaries behind the movement of the "Reclaiming the 7 Mountains" philosophy behind this conference), check out the video below.

Photo credit: digitizedchaos