Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Freethinker

Home
Nonreligious
UK college apologises for hosting a ‘hateful’ Christian conference

UK college apologises for hosting a ‘hateful’ Christian conference

Last updated on: September 23, 2021 at 4:06 pm by Barry Duke

UK college apologises for hosting a ‘hateful’ Christian conference 2021-09-23T16:06:25+02:00 Barry Duke

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Images via YouTube

THE fact that “gay cure” advocate Mike Davidson and Andrea Minichielo Williams, CEO of anti-LGBT group Christian Concern, above, were slated to be among a clot of speakers at a Christian conference at Worcester College, Oxford, should have immediately sounded alarm bells.

But the event – organised by the Wilberforce Academy (part of Christian Concern) – went ahead anyway. Shortly after, the college issued an apology in the face of anger expressed by students – and in so doing attracted the wrath of Williams, who was among the line-up of speakers.

According to student paper, The Oxford Tab, A spokesperson for Worcester College said:

We deeply regret the distress caused to students, staff and other members of the college community by the presence of the Wilberforce Academy conference.

The college was not aware of the speaker list or programme content in advance. The booking was taken in good faith, but it is clear that our procedures did not work as they should. We have begun an urgent review to ensure that this does not happen again.

We have agreed with the JCR [Junior Common Room] Committee that the profit from the conference will be set aside to fund dedicated equality, diversity and inclusivity initiatives. We are working with students and other members of the college community to identify the most appropriate projects.

We acknowledge that this was a serious failure that has caused significant distress, and we apologise unreservedly to all those who have been affected.

Students who found out about the event via a Wilberforce Academy leaflet found its content “hateful and invalidating.”

Background image credit: Andrew Shiva/Wikipedia

Christian Concern said in a press release issued yesterday (Wednesday) that Worcester College is led by Provost David Isaac, above, former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), and blasted him for the college’s “capitulation.”

CC said the decision to apologise for hosting the conference:

Seems starkly at odds with Mr Isaac’s stand whilst chair of the EHRC. During his tenure, the EHRC published guidance to ‘protect lawful free speech’.

For over a decade, the Wilberforce Academy has run a one-week conference for young professional Christians who have a passion to serve Jesus Christ in a variety of vocations including law, politics, education, media, arts and business.

Topics covered by expert international speakers include: abortion, Islam, support for those experiencing unwanted same-sex attraction, transgenderism and Christian cultural history.

The conference includes teaching and biblical beliefs that have been recognised by the Christian church globally for the past 2,000 years.

Williams said in the press statement:

Sadly, we have had no communication from Worcester college about these reports of an ‘apology’ for hosting us, despite our attempts to contact staff and discuss what has been alleged.

But if the college has turned its back on us, it seems that cancel culture has once again demonstrated the power of its grip in one of our top universities, fuelled by a small group of activists who won’t tolerate any view that departs from their own narrow ideology and who will resort to tactics of misrepresentation and sweeping allegations to get their way, seemingly frightening nearly everyone into submission.

That a college now led by someone who has so often claimed to be a defender of freedom of expression in higher education is rumoured to have capitulated to this aggressive movement is even more concerning. We very much enjoyed our week at the college, were very warmly welcomed, including by the Provost, received many compliments from the staff and were not aware of any complaints or concerns being raised with us at the time. Yet now we hear it alleged that the college has ‘apologised’ for hosting us!

We will be seeking urgent clarification. Whatever happens, we will continue to speak of Jesus Christ who was himself an ‘outsider’ and by his words and actions demonstrated his commitment to reaching the marginalised, excluded and vulnerable so that they could discover true hope and everlasting love through him, even sacrificing his own life to do so.

Oxford University should continue to stand for free speech and free expression and allow its students to have the intellectual ability to decide whether they wish to attend external events, and to make up their own minds on what they hear.

Students, according to the Tab, were particularly offended by the presence of Davidson, an “ex-gay” zealot who runs a despicable “pray-away-the-gay” outfit called Core Issues Trust, based in Northern Ireland.

Davidson’s group also publicises their dissatisfaction with the ‘encroaching politico-religious identity of Islam’, with a focus on trying to ‘understand how to respond to these doctrines’. Many students commented this language was inflammatory, particularly taking into account one session at the conference was titled ‘The nature of Islam’.

Provost Isaac, said the Tab, “suggested” that Wilberforce Academy had presenteditself as a “genuine religious conference”, with a staff member taking the booking in good faith.

According to the JCR President, it was confirmed that Isaac:

Would never wish to do business with organisations whose values and policies conflict with those of Worcester College.

Please report any typos/errors to [email protected]

If you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee – and boy, do I get through a LOT of coffee keeping this site active – please click the link below.

I’d love a cup of coffee

News

Andrea Minichiello Williams

Previous Post

September 22, 2021

Ex-IRA man gets punched for praying away the 'sin of sodomy'

Next Post

September 23, 2021 Catholics aghast at the pace of positive change in Spain

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Archive My Atheism News Opinion Reviews Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 March 2007 April 2006 February 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What king of Judah found the Book of the Law during Temple repairs?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Hezekiah Jehoshaphat Manasseh Josiah

Books by This Author Books by The Freethinker

See All Titles »