Exodus Cancels Tolerant Speaker

According to his online calendar, Jay Bakker’s speech to the 2005 Exodus “Freedom” conference has been canceled. (Hat tip: XGW commenter Sarah.)

Exodus has not acknowledged the cancellation on its own conference calendar, however.

As I see the situation, Bakker’s presence on the conference program might have achieved one of two results:

1) Bakker might have explicitly condemned the respective political empires of James Dobson (Focus on the Family, Family Research Council), Pat Robertson (CBN), Jerry Falwell (Liberty Counsel) and the American Family Association (Agape Press). Bakker might have detailed each organization’s specific efforts to promote discrimination, harassment, stereotypes, scientific and religious half-truths, and more-or-less compulsory “treatment” programs.

2) Bakker might instead have joined other Exodus speakers in vague opposition to “violence” and “hate” — while permitting other speakers to suggest it is “loving” to blame homosexuals for whatever violence or discrimination they might experience.

Now, neither option appears likely to happen.