There’s little doubt universities are doing all they can to strip students of their faith, however it’s good to know that not all students are giving into the pressure!
Duke University Freshman Brian Grasso wrote an extensive op-ed piece in the Washington Post this week to explain why he refused to read a lesbian book that is required reading for all first year students. Grasso writes:
After researching the book’s content and reading a portion of it, I chose to opt out of the assignment. My choice had nothing to do with the ideas presented. I’m not opposed to reading memoirs written by LGBTQ individuals or stories containing suicide. I’m not even opposed to reading Freud, Marx or Darwin. I know that I’ll have to grapple with ideas I don’t agree with, even ideas that I find immoral.
Brian is a Christian. And in his op-ed he clearly laid out his Biblical reasoning for abstaining from such literature…
In the Bible, Jesus forbids his followers from exposing themselves to anything pornographic. “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” he says in Matthew 5:28-29. “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away.” This theme is reiterated by Paul who warns, “flee from sexual immorality.”
Brian Grasso’s stand is impressive. Even more so considering he attends Duke University, which is on the far end frontier of new sexual orthodoxy. The school has even gone as far as wanting to raise student fees so they could cover the sex-change operation of students, up to $50,000.
Even amidst the progressive views, Brian says the response he’s received on campus has been largely positive. Let’s remember to pray for all the new Christian students that are entering secular college environments and taking a stand for their faith!