Frank Turek is equipping Christians to look at moral issues confronting America and how to respond successfully from a Christian worldview at the 2013 20th Annual National Conference on Christian Apologetics, “Reasons for the Hope,” presented by Southern Evangelical Seminary and Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. The conference is set for Oct. 11-12 at First Baptist Church Indian Trail near Charlotte, N.C.
In light of all that has taken place on the marriage front this summer, Turek’s story is of interest to many. How he handled himself in this setting, as you will see, is a perfect example of Christian apologetics in action.
Turek went about his job as a leadership consultant at Cisco Systems with commitment and passion. In fact, he got such high marks for a yearlong program he conducted in 2008 that he was asked back in 2010.
Another 10 sessions of leadership and team-building programming were scheduled, and Turek and his students were through the seventh session when a manager for Cisco who was enrolled in the class issued a complaint against Turek. And because of that complaint, the relationship between Cisco and Turek was terminated.
His teaching style was fine; that wasn’t it. The students rated the class content high and called the class “excellent,” so there was no problem there. Did budget constraints force the cancellation of the class? No. So why was Turek fired?
Turek, a noted Christian apologist, speaker and best-selling author, had written a book—Correct, Not Politically Correct: How Same-Sex Marriage Hurts Everyone—on why the current marriage laws in the U.S. are best for the country. The student phoning in the complaint had never read the book but Googled Turek after class. In his complaint, the manager said that although Turek never discussed his views in class, his beliefs were inconsistent with Cisco’s tolerance policies and couldn’t be … tolerated.
The manager then contacted an experienced human resources professional at Cisco who had Turek fired that day without ever speaking to him. The HR professional also commended the manager for “outing” Turek.
Unfortunately, Turek is not alone. Christians themselves are being “outed” for their faith beliefs, and there is a high price to pay. Inclusion and antidiscrimination policies apparently do not apply to all who walk through corporate America’s doors.
It is this type of situation that lends itself to demonstrate exactly why Christian apologetics is so important in today’s culture. Turek has since moved on—writing more books, speaking at more conferences, hosting his nationwide radio program—all the while becoming an even stronger Christian apologist than he already was.
“No one can deny that the issues making headlines in our country every day certainly have a faith aspect built into them—from marriage to abortion to finances,” says Richard Land, newly appointed president of Southern Evangelical Seminary, a leader in apologetics education. “As Christians, we must come together—united as one—to defend our faith regarding these important issues that are shaping our country. America’s future and millions of peoples’ eternal destinations are hanging in the balance.”
