In 2010, The Marin Foundation, headed by Andrew Marin, began the “I’m Sorry” Campaign. It's purpose is to continue the foundation’s stated mission to build bridges of respect and communication between the conservative Christian community and the LGBTQ community.
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This campaign, however, has met with both resounding praise from members of those communities as well as fervent rebuke from other members.
Below are 4 criticisms of Andrew Marin and his “I’m Sorry” Campaign:
1. “I applaud their intentions. It’s better than what most Christians have done, which is to demonize homosexuality and treat it like some sort of disease. But these signs have an implicit message: We’ve done a bad job of loving the sinner, but we still believe homosexuality is a sin. If these Christians still believe that, do their apologies really hold much weight with the gay community?” –
A guest contributor at the Friendly Atheist blog
2. “So let’s be clear about this: Andrew Marin makes his living dancing around in the middle ground between pretending to say, and actually saying, that it’s perfectly okay to be gay. Like others of his ilk who have discovered the benefits to be had by essentially exploiting the gay issue . . . Marin trades in the fuzzy, non-committal language that ultimately serves no purpose beyond allowing Christians to feel better about maintaining their conviction that homosexuality is a sin.” –
John Shore, blogger
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3. “Someone who really loves those engaged in homosexual practice and trusts in God’s power will not allow such gross immoral sexual behavior to continue among brothers and sisters in the faith without ever offering an active rebuke of such behavior . . . Marin for his part operates with a worldly definition of love that differs little from the notion of tolerance—which, when practiced toward immoral conduct, the authors of Scripture regard as a vice rather than a virtue . . . The Judeo-Christian understanding of love is much more robust in terms of correcting wrong.” –
Robert A. J. Gagnon, Associate Professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
4. “Evangelical Christianity is increasingly divided over the question of homosexuality as counterfeit expressions of “love” for those enslaved by sexual sin grow more acceptable in the evangelical world. ‘Love,’ for Andrew Marin . . . means silencing divine revelation in favor of human conversation.” –
Matt Kennedy, blogger on Stand Firm in Faith
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