Engage Atlanta 2013
About a month ago (April 17) I had the opportunity to attend a one-day conference in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a call for Christians to engage our communities, not run or cower. It was a time of teaching and equipping.
The conference itself was sponsored mainly by Summit Ministries, the Manhattan Declaration, and World Magazine. It was the first conference of its kind.
The keynote speakers were:
Marvin Olasky and myself
- Jeff Myers, Ph.D., President Summit Ministries
- Marvin Olasky, Editor-in-Chief, WORLD Magazine
Other speakers were:
- John Stonestreet — Speaker and Fellow, Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview
- Warren Smith — Associate Publisher and Editor, WORLD Magazine
- Jeff Ventrella — Senior Vice President, Alliance Defending Freedom
- Scott Klusendorf — President, Life Training Institute
- Eric Teetsel — Executive Director, Manhattan Declaration
A Non-Religious Response
Myself and Eric Teetsel
One of the speakers, Eric Teetsel, gave a very compelling argument in support of heterosexual marriage – from a non-religious point of view (believe it or not, there are actual scientific reasons to oppose homosexual marriage). In this post I would like to share with you the audio from Eric’s lecture, along with a link to the slides he used.
For the Good of All: Restoring Marriage Ethic Across Society (by Eric Teetsel)
Click here to see the slides that accompanied Eric’s presentation.
I hope that you find this information useful and thought-provoking. Please, take the time and check out the other links available. They are being provided with no restrictions on sharing. Click the image below and find links to all the audio from the conference.
Note: I would like to add that I found Mr. Olasky very soft-spoken and humble. I also found Mr. Teetsel to be kind and gracious. It was an honor to be able to speak with them. Their work is very much appreciated.
The Recovering Legalist 
Outstanding information! Thanks for sharing this! As much as people want to argue this whole thing. Marriage and stability of families proves itself out again and again.
I guess, I should say marriage between a male and female—- the stability and health of the children proves it time and again.
And I know you shouldn’t.
so, by this line of logic, the eventual well-adjusted child of a same sex couple would be “proof” that same sex marriage is a good thing right?
I’m sure you’re not prepared to offer the same standard of evidence for same sex marriage that you’ve arbitrarily applied to heterosexual marriage.
Oh, by the way, the American Psychological Association issued a brief and stated:
““Not a single study has found children of lesbian or gay parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents”
This assertion was supported by 59 co-published studies.
Well, evidently, there was one.
You’re very welcome.
At our recent pastor’s convention in Canada (that actually happened about a week after yours) our theme was on evangelism as well, looking at practical ways to reach the people in our community… I think the Lord is really challenging His church to return to the basics – the great commission to go and preach the Gospel to all creation… amen!
No female speakers.
I don’t think that was an issue. Well, I guess it could have been an issue if one wanted to make it an issue.
And you might want to notice, Anthony, that the relative rise of homosexuality in the last few decades happens to coincide with one of the most statistically peaceful periods in recorded history. So there’s that.
And nothing you presented does anything to note the frequent and abject failure of heterosexual marriage *at times.*
Which isn’t to say heterosexual marriage is bad, of course. That’s not what I am saying.
What I am saying is the slides specifically indicate that the referenced study (just ONE??) does not show causation, and then proceeds to aggressively imply causation throughout the rest of the presentation.
That is embarrassingly misleading. If the rest of the speakers were as irresponsible, I can only imagine what was said…
You got me on the “peaceful periods” part. I must have been living on another planet the last 45 years.
And are you actually saying that a mother and a father in a natural, nuclear family setup, as a whole, is not preferred to a same-sex situation? Are you saying that it is illogical to even assume, based on the surface, that a traditional family model is normal?
No, a traditional family model can be perfectly normal. And often is.
But that truth doesn’t necessitate that a same sex family unit be automatically deemed abnormal.
Also, no, I wouldn’t argue that a traditional model is preferred. I don’t think the data supports such a claim either. (re: 59 studies cited by the APA)
And regarding peace, it is an interesting argument:
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/03/pinker-explains-the-long-peace/