A part-time
philosophy instructor at Brigham Young University has been
fired after publicly criticizing the Mormon Church's
opposition to same-sex marriage. In an op-ed piece
Jeffrey Nielsen published in The Salt Lake Tribune
last week, he called the church's opposition
"immoral," and the teacher has since been told by
officials at the Mormon-owned university in Provo,
Utah, that he will not be rehired, the Associated Press reports.
"I believe opposing gay marriage and seeking a
constitutional amendment against it is immoral,"
Nielsen wrote in the op-ed, published June 4. But
Mormon Church leaders were not pleased to read
that, considering their denomination has funded a
multimillion-dollar campaign against same-sex marriage and
in support of a constitutional ban on it, a measure
the church asked its members to support on May 28.
So he was given notice on June 8 in a letter
from the chair of the philosophy department. "Since
you have chosen to contradict and oppose the church in
an area of great concern to church leaders, and to do
so in a public forum, we will not rehire you after the
current term is over," the letter read, according to
AP. A BYU spokeswoman confirmed that Nielsen will not
be rehired.
Despite being let go, Nielsen told AP that he
has "no desire to be anything but a member of the
church." (The Advocate)
