A Christian lecturer sacked by a Bible college over social media comments about homosexuality has told a tribunal that the general public expression of his beliefs are “academically defensible”.
Dr Aaron Edwards lost his job after seven years as a lecturer with Cliff College, a Methodist training college in Derbyshire, over comments he posted on social media last 12 months.
His tweet read, “Homosexuality is invading the Church. Evangelicals now not see the severity of this because they’re busy apologising for his or her apparently barbaric homophobia, whether or not it’s true.”
The comments were made in response to a debate within the Church of England about introducing same-sex blessings.
The tribunal, meeting in Sheffield this week, heard that complaints were made by three female students, two of whom were lesbians. The students claimed that Dr Edwards’ comments made them feel “unsafe”.
After refusing to retract his comments, he was dismissed for allegedly bringing the school “into disrepute”.Â
Dr Edwards told the tribunal that he had desired to “rise up for truth when it’s being eroded in society”.
“Christians are called to profess what they imagine,” he said, in response to The Telegraph.
He said that he had been open about his beliefs in other writings, podcasts and sermons, and claimed that the school had been aware of his views prior to the backlash over his tweet.Â
“My views on homosexuality haven’t been unknown, they’ve been discussed openly,” he said on the tribunal.
“In seven years of teaching at Cliff, I actually have never had a student who took one in all my units raise concerns about feeling unsafe within the classroom, and no student has ever left feedback showing concerns concerning the expression of my views on homosexuality.
“The college had good enough opportunity to be acquainted with my views and with my academic research for there to be less apparent shock and public disappointment from them in responding as they did on Twitter with none prior consultation with me.”
The tribunal also heard that he had struggled to seek out work after his dismissal.
“Equality, diversity, and inclusivity quotas remain significant for all existing universities and validated colleges,” he said.
“It is already systemically difficult for a heterosexual white male with traditional Christian beliefs on morality to get a tutorial post.”
He added, “I think the general public expression of my beliefs is academically defensible, but many institutions will likely be unable to look past the controversy of being dismissed in consequence.”
The hearing continues.
