A prayer for the town

Town Hall meeting invocation… Lord God, before we get down to business, we want to pause a bit to honor You and to ask that You help us in our deliberations. These often involve conflict, so cause us to be open to discussion; help us to keep things calm and dialogical, and assist us in being tolerant—which means accepting others even though we’re convinced we’re right and they’re wrong. Perfect harmony we’re not going to achieve, Lord, but at least help us to be civil and to be good listeners. Bless our town. This is a good town to live in, and for that we’re grateful. Keep us close to You and in good relationships with one another. In Your most holy Name, Amen.

ESPN analyst and sportswriter Chris Broussard is under fire after calling homosexuality a sin during a televised discussion Monday, WORLD reports. Broussard, a well-known and committed Christian who has written about his beliefs before, was asked to comment on NBA player Jason Collins' announcement that he is gay. During the ESPN program "Outside the Lines," which also featured openly gay sportswriter LZ Granderson, the host asked Broussard to comment on Collins' claim to be a Christian. "Personally, I don't believe that you can live an openly homosexual lifestyle or an openly premarital sex between heterosexuals, if you're openly living that type of a lifestyle, then the Bible says you know them by their fruits, it says that's a sin," Broussard said. "If you're openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, not just homosexuality, adultery, fornication, premarital sex between heterosexuals, whatever it may be, I believe that's walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ. I would not characterize that person as a Christian because I do not think the Bible would characterize them as a Christian." In a statement released after the show, ESPN distanced itself from Broussard, saying: "We regret that a respectful discussion of personal viewpoints became a distraction from today's news. ESPN is fully committed to diversity and welcomes Jason Collins' announcement." Note that ESPN says they're committed to diversity, yet they are INTOLERANT of any view that deems homosexuality as sin. Christianity isn't included in their diverse universe, nor any other religion that has views which do not support various sexual behaviors. If a sports star said he/she was practicing incest or polygamy would their diversity also have been applauded? Tolerance is no longer a two-way street, and what makes this story so amazing is how blatantly ESPN applauds itself for diversity while demonizing those with alternative views. It is what D.A. Carson calls "The intolerance of tolerance."