College forces staff to sign to say they oppose gay marriage and abortion

PinkNews logo surrounded by illustrated images including a rainbow, unicorn, PN sign and pride flag.

A Christian college in North Carolina has been caught asking staff and faculty to sign a document to declare opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion.

The private Montreat College expects its staff to sign up to oppose the two items.

It reads that they must confirm that they support “the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman” as well as the “worth of every human being from conception to death.”

Two men holding hands

But even more frighteningly, some staff have said they have left because they are expected to uphold a “full 24 hour/seven-day-a-week persona life” involving the college’s stance.

One, Corrie Greene who teaches English at the school has said she and eight other members will be leaving the school

According to Adam Caress, the school has spent years “reviewing and revising” the documents.

He says the process to review the documents has been “transparent and deliberative” and included 13 “listening sessions”.

The school apparently gave a chance for input to its 39 full time faculty members and 142 adjunct aculty members.

Described as the “core documents” Greene adds: “It says we must affirm and uphold the college’s specific spiritual stances in our full 24 hour/seven-day-a-week personal life.

“I can’t let somebody else write my personal testimony. In my faith, Christ is constantly showing me something new.”

Some students have protested against the covenant.

One student Bailey Mathews, a sophomore, has said she hopes that the President of the college, Paul Maurer, should “consider this a family and reconsider some things and that we can fix our broken family.”

But if this does not change, Mathews has said she also plans to leave the college.

“I was going to stay and I planned on graduating from here,” she adds, “but now, no.”

A conservative Christian pressure group earlier this year published claims that equal marriage has led to a surge in people trying to get married to themselves.

The extraordinary claim comes from the Coalition For Marriage (C4M) and anti-LGBT evangelical group Anglican Mainstream, after the Office for National Statistics confirmed data on the first same-sex weddings in England and Wales in 2014.

Out lesbian Christian rock star Vicky Beeching earlier this month she has been forced to take a break from social media after reading messages saying she should be killed, and that she can’t be gay and a Christian.