July 30. Frank Turek. Frank is a gifted man. He was a US Navy Aviator and has a master’s degree from George Washington University and a doctorate from Southern Evangelical Seminary.
Frank is also an award-winning author and the President of CrossExamined.org, a ministry he founded for defending the gospel.
Frank speaks clearly and honestly. He presents powerful and entertaining evidence for Christianity at churches, high schools, and college campuses. He also hosts a weekly TV program called I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist.
When others won’t stand for truth, stand alone.
As a paid business consultant, Frank understood what tolerance in the workplace should look like. He consistently interacted with people of all orientations and political persuasions, was fair-minded, cordial, and professional in every way.
He treated people well and respected their rights to their personal opinions, and he trusted the companies he worked for to afford him the same respect. He was a free man after all—free to hold a personal opinion in America without the risk of losing his job.
Unfortunately, Frank was wrong.
In 2008, and again in 2010, Frank had done leadership training for managers at a well-known company. He was a gifted and dynamic speaker. Employees looked forward to the privilege of sitting under his leadership.
One of the trainees Googled Frank and complained to Human Resources. Frank had published a book titled Correct, Not Politically Correct—How Same-Sex Marriages Hurt Everyone. As a result, that individual felt Frank needed to be fired.
Suddenly, the dynamo consultant, who had exercised his right to think and publish his own thoughts, became a political pariah that the company couldn’t tolerate. Since Frank didn’t “live up” to the company’s values, the Googler insisted, “He can’t work here.”
Frank alerted the manager who had helped him get hired and explained that trouble was brewing. The manager assured him, “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”
The manager showed up at one of Frank’s training sessions, long enough to hear a participant tell Frank it was the best session she ever took.
Afterward, Frank was escorted to a separate conference room. The news wasn’t good.
“I don’t know how to tell you this,” the manager said, his eyes tearing up. “Frank … I have to fire you.”
“You have to fire me—why?”
“Because you wrote that book about same-sex marriage, and the HR director doesn’t think your views live up to our company’s values. You need to go.”
Even the liberal-minded workers thought Frank was being treated unfairly and wanted to be billed for the rest of the course he’d been fired from teaching.
Frank decided to go public with the injustice, not just for himself, but for conservative values in general. Two days before he did, he got another call. This one was from an HR representative at a nationally known bank where he’d presented.
The rep informed Frank someone had just Googled his name and found out he wrote a book against same-sex marriage. Yep. It happened again.
“We’re going in a different direction. You can’t work here,” the caller stated.
Two days later, Frank went public about his firings and the intolerance shown toward his conservative values. He became a voice for the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and the Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance.
Not surprisingly, some people scoffed at the idea conservatives needed “protection” that wasn’t already in place. Yet, both companies that fired Frank eventually promised not to discriminate against those who opposed same-sex marriages (as reported by Equality Matters—A Campaign for full LGBT Equality blog.)
As it turns out, Frank’s voice did matter.
The Bible says, “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small” (Proverbs 24:10 ESV).
Are you willing to let your voice be heard? When others won’t stand for truth, stand alone.
Outreach: Show God’s Love. “Frank Turek speaker profile.” Accessed June 8, 2020. https://www.outreach.com/events/christian-speakers/Frank-Turek.aspx.
Story read by: Nathan Walker
Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter
Audio production: Joel Carpenter
Story written by: Toni M Babcock, https://www.facebook.com/toni.babcock.1
Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/
Project manager: Blake Mattocks
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