A high profile graphic design conference in Texas removed one of their keynote speakers because he attends a Southern Baptist church that ascribes to the Bible’s teaching on marriage.
David Roark, the communications director of The Village Church, was yanked from the program over complaints raised by the Dallas-Forth Worth chapter of AIGA.
They complained that the Southern Baptist church has “openly discriminatory policies and practices toward women and the LGBTQ+ community.”
AIGA threatened to pull out of the Sept. 18-20 conference unless Roark was removed from the program.
“We feel it would be hypocritical of us to be involved in the conference and tacitly endorse the policies of The Village Church,” the local chapter wrote on its website.
Oh, so these folks are anti-Christian bigots. Got it.
Conference Wanted “Safe Space”
Circles Conference spokesman Ismael Burciaga, explained the decision to ban the Christian speaker by arguing they had to create a “safe space” for attendees.
“Since the beginning, one goal of Circles Conference has been to bring people of different world views and creative backgrounds together,” Burciaga wrote. “While cultivating a collaborative and creative culture is our top priority, we also respect the concerns of our fellow creatives and we will always be open to dialogue and transparency.”
Mr. Roark was incredibly gracious in responding to ugly episode.
“I want the creative community to be a place where individuals of all backgrounds, beliefs and lifestyles can learn from one another, regardless of differences, not a place where we shut each other out,” he wrote on Twitter.
Southern Baptists Should Be Outraged
Quite frankly, The Village Church, the Southern Baptist Convention and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission ought to be raising a firestorm of outrage over this blatant act of discrimination.
Let’s be clear, the only reason Mr. Roark was cast out of the conference was because of his church’s mainstream Christian views on sexuality.
We’ve seen such attacks on bakers, florists, wedding planners and now graphic designers.
The sex and gender revolutionaries are waging a fierce campaign to break the back of the church. They don’t want to just silence Christians, now they want to punish Christians.
And those of us who cherish the Constitution must stand up and fight back. Otherwise, there will come a day when you have to pledge allegiance to the rainbow flag to do business in America.
Take Action Now
Here’s a link to the email addresses of the AIGA Board of Directors. They will not respond to my inquiries as to why they are fomenting anti-Christian bigotry. Perhaps they will respond to your inquiries.