Branson mentioned this briefly in his round-up, but I thought I'd add a bit more. Nebraska assistant football coach, who has been under fire since testifying against an LGBT non-discrimination ordinance in Omaha earlier this year, says he won't testify against a similar ordinance on Monday in Lincoln, the Husker Extra reports:
"A number of fellow Christians who have been working on legislation and working on the nuts and bolts of this issue told me, 'Look, there's going to be so much media attention over you, it's going to take away from the issue,'" Brown told the Journal Star. "Everything inside of me said, 'I don't want the media to stop me from going.' Then I realized it was going to be a circus, and everybody already knows how I think. My views stand the same. As I prayed about it, I thought it was not in the Lord's will for me to testify."
Since Brown's testimony in Omaha, the U. of Nebraska has faced calls to fire him. Brown said recently he would be honored to be fired for his anti-gay views:
“To be fired for my faith would be a greater honor than to be fired because we didn’t win enough games. I haven’t lost any sleep over it. I realize at some point, we live in a politically correct enough culture where that very well could happen.”
He says his decision to not tesify in Lincoln isn't because he's afraid of being fired:
"Nobody has told me at the university that I couldn't go," he said. "I've gotten assurance from the chancellor that, as a citizen, I can express my views publicly. I mean, this is almost like voting.
"I appreciate the University of Nebraska allowing me to go to the hearing if I chose to do so."
Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said Saturday: "Would I tell him not to go to the hearing? Absolutely not."
Brown wrote a letter to the Journal Star newspaper promising to abide by the school's non-discrimination policy but doesn't agree with it:
I wholeheartedly agree with UNL's Non-Discrimination Policy. As a follower of Jesus Christ, and a UNL employee for twenty-two years, I haven't, nor will I violate this policy…
…Not all of my players have agreed with the Bible's views. One example, of many, would be those choosing heterosexual sex outside of marriage. Though the Bible teaches this as sin, I haven't penalized them with playing time or discrimination of any sort. Because I love them, I've invested in them even outside of football and gently asked them to consider God's view on it.
If I coached a gay player, because the Bible says homosexuality is a sin, I would do the same. If he didn't agree, I wouldn't penalize him with playing time or any form of discrimination.
I have and will embrace every player I coach, gay or straight … but I won't embrace a legal policy that supports a lifestyle that God calls sin.
