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It's Friday, December 5, 2025. I'm Albert Mohler, and this is the Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview. We need to go to the state of Oklahoma. There's a story developing there that should have our attention. All Christians, Christian parents, Christian young people, college students should pay attention to this story. It's receiving a lot of attention. Turning Point USA has made it into a major issue, and this deservedly so. It needs to be a major issue. We're talking about a student at the University of Oklahoma, Samantha Fulnacki, a junior there at the university. And she has basically raised the issue of the fact that she was given a score of 0 out of a possible 25 for a response and analysis paper that came as an assignment. And she is saying, as the New York Times reports, that she was given the zero for an essay that cited the Bible and said that the lie that there are multiple genders is demonic. Now, as you might expect, there's more to it. And I want to tell you that one of the good things about the Internet, aids, they're bad things. But one of the good things is that I can now have access to her report through the original assignment. To the. To the scientific. I'm going to put quotation marks around that scientific article. That was the article to which she was to respond and make the analysis. We now have all of that. I can tell you that by no sane measure does her assignment come back as a zero, a zero out of 25, or a zero out of anything. That just doesn't make any sense. It is clear that she submitted a response to the assignment. The professor came back and gave her again, zero out of a possible 25. And the professor made very clear statements that he was rejecting the student's work. Now, I've got to be careful. Once again, gender becomes a problem because transgender is a part of the story. And it's not just a part of the story in the article. It's a part of the story with this instructor who's now been put on leave by the University of Oklahoma. The instructor apparently is a man claiming a transgender identity as a woman. And so you look at this and you say, well, again, what could go wrong? And the obvious answer is, everything can go wrong. And in this case, the professor or the instructor responded to the student by saying that some of her language was, quote, highly offensive, especially a minoritized population. The instructor went on to say in explaining the zero, you are entitled to your own beliefs, but this isn't a vague narrative of society pushes lies, but instead the result of countless years developing psychological and scientific evidence for these claims and directly interacting with the communities involved. Oh, all that to say that it is really interesting that even if you get to an organization like the Chronicle of Higher Education, it's interesting they got another professor, well established to look at this paper, look at the assignment and look at the grade and see if there's a problem. And even this teacher came back and said, there's no way that's a zero. So in other words, this instructor was really sending a signal by giving this student a zero on this assignment. And it was clearly directed at the fact that this student responded to. And that was the assignment, was to respond with analysis of a paper. I'll tell you, the analysis wasn't really thick, but that's not the problem here. The problem here is the judgment made by the student was clearly based in her own biblical convictions and in the kind of language you would expect coming from a college undergraduate. This student just put forward her own argument in response to the scientific paper that she was given as an assignment, that that was the assignment to respond to the paper. She responded to the paper. She didn't respond the way the instructor wanted. The statement from Turning Point USA has really a very, very good. And this is the chapter there at the University of Oklahoma. This is the organization, of course, started by Charlie Kirk, the late Charlie Kirk, and is very active on college campuses. There's a very important statement in their release. Quote, while there is no constitutional right to receive an A in class at a public university, there is a right to not be academically penalized due to discrimination against your viewpoint. Academic freedom belongs to every student, not only to those who mirror the instructor's beliefs, end quote. That is a very important argument. No one has a constitutional right to an A at a course taken in a public university. But a zero is different than a B or a C or an E. Here you have a failing grade in which there's zero credit. That's a particular animus from the instructor. That's a particular hostility coming from the teacher in this class. And I think this student has every right to raise this issue. And I think it's very helpful to us that she has raised this issue. I read her paper and once again, there's simply no way under any analysis, this is a zero. And it also, I think, does demonstrate her Christian conviction. And it's very clear. She's read the article, she's responding to it, she's analyzing it from her Christian perspective. And, you know, she uses very straightforward language that no doubt was offensive to this transgender instructor. I don't doubt for a moment that it was offensive. I do want to say this student had the constitutional right to make the argument based in her own Christian convictions. If a teacher, an instructor or professor gives the assignment inviting or instructing the student to analyze and respond from the student's own perspective, then that's exactly not only what the student is assigned to do, that is what the student is free to do. And if the professor had given stricter instructions about responding in this way in a structured argument, that would be different. But that is not the case here. This is clearly a case of prejudice against this student, and, you know, it's not going to stand, and that's good. And so if not for organizations like Turning Point usa, if not for the Trump administration putting a lot of pressure on universities right now, there would be a very different reality. And it also shows you that this kind of thing has been happening. This kind of thing has been very rampant. The difference now is not that it's happening, but that it's being exposed. And I can tell you from firsthand experience, this is writ large across elite higher education. And increasingly, it's showing up even in regional state universities and in small colleges and all the rest, because the. The elite institutions set the pattern, and the other institutions just follow them, mimic them. And in worldview, in LGBTQ affirmation and all of this, it's a very predictable pattern. But here we're also talking about the fact that the Trump administration, and I think the government there in Oklahoma is certainly going to take some action about this as well. Viewpoint diversity is an issue that comes up in that Turning Point USA statement. Viewpoint diversity, diversity. Now, here's a very interesting thing. Viewpoint diversity is the argument that in public space, in space that is obligated to a variety of viewpoints, you can't discriminate against Christian viewpoints in being presented or conservative viewpoints. And the reason why conservatives and conservative Christians have been making that case is because there has been viewpoint discrimination. And. And so increasingly the courts, increasingly legislatures and others are recognizing that's incompatible with higher education. That's one of the main points of being made by the Department of Education in the Trump administration and by the Trump administration writ large. Viewpoint diversity. Okay, so here's a very interesting turn in that argument. You have liberals saying, that's conservatives taking a liberal category and using it to conservative ends. And I will say, good for them. In other words, the left argued for viewpoint diversity, but they don't want to extend to conservative Christians viewpoint diversity. But viewpoint diversity means viewpoint diversity, and that's a good thing for us all to recognize. And that means that anywhere we are in public space, we may confront an argument that we don't like. But there is no justification for excluding biblically based arguments made by private citizens, even when they enroll at a state university, or especially when they enroll at a state university. This is a very important case. We're going to be following this. My guess is that this is going to become a case that snowballs into other cases. I think the publicity given to this means that we're likely to hear from a lot of students in other schools. Yes, that's exactly what I experienced. That's very similar to what I experienced. And so we'll be tracking this. I think this is going to be not only a discussion nationwide, it's going to get to some deeper issues and that will be very important. We'll be tracking that with you. By the way, the University of Oklahoma released a statement before I leave this, and the statement itself is interesting. It begins, the University of Oklahoma takes seriously concerns involving First Amendment rights. Notice the legal issue here. I'm not criticizing the statement, I'm just saying it is interesting. They do recognize the First Amendment applies, so they'll get that out with the very first sentence. And proudly so they say, certainly including religious freedoms. Again, thank you. That's a very important statement. Upon receiving notice from the student on the grading of an assignment, the university immediately began a full review of the situation and has acted swiftly to address the matter. Listen to this quote. First, the college acted immediately to address the academic issue raised by the student. College leaders contacted her on the day her letter was received and have maintained regular communication throughout the process. As previously stated, a formal grade appeals process was conducted. The process resulted in steps to ensure no academic harm to the student from the graded assignments. End quote. Okay, so that's very interesting. Let me just say that that's the kind of response you should expect from a state university in this situation. This is the kind of response saying, we've heard it. We responded to this student the day we received the complaint. We're going to make sure no harm comes to the student by this assignment. That's all good. That's all good. The next step is to make certain that this doesn't happen again and doesn't happen to anyone else. Okay, let's turn to questions. And I'm honored by the questions that are sent. You can Send your own by writing me@mailalbertmuller.com Sometimes the questions are really tough. Here's one. A young man, 18 years old, writes me, I have a friend who struggles with homosexuality, but also claims to be a born again Christian. The letter writer goes on to say, I believe firmly that he is saved and is a Christian who is just struggling with this sin. And he agrees that it is a sin he struggles with. Well, at least he used to. He now believes that the Bible doesn't explicitly state that homosexuality is a sin. This young man says, I love him and I love his heart. We agree on everything in the Bible except the fact that homosexuality is sinful. This topic comes up almost every time we are together and I feel it is dividing us more and more each time. How can I either find a way to save this friendship or allow it to be pruned while remaining faithful? And boy, I really admire this young man. 18 year old young man. I admire his concern for his friend, his honoring a friendship, the desire to continue the friendship if possible. But I also appreciate the fact that this young man clearly believes that he has to respond based in truth, based in Christian conviction and based in the Gospel. So let's just go, I think, to the key sentence here. We are told that he now believes the young man of concern here. He now believes that the Bible doesn't explicitly state that homosexuality is a sin. Okay? So that is extremely problematic because the only way you can do that is to say the words don't mean what they obviously mean. And there are liberal arguments that for years have tried to make the case that whatever the Bible's talking about is not consensual homosexuality. But that is exactly what you see in Romans chapter one. There's simply no question. I think you see it also in 1 Corinthians. I think you see it Leviticus, but most emphatically you see it in Romans 1, where it's not just the acts, it is the disordered passions, the wrongly ordered passions. And yet there's another part of that passage there at the end of Romans chapter one. It speaks of humanity suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. I want to say to this young man concerned about his friend, I think your friend is suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. And I think he's deceiving himself. And one of the things we know is that sin is very deceitful. His sin is lying to him and he is believing the lie. And you make a statement. I believe firmly he is saved and is a Christian. Well, you know, I understand that you're probably basing that on the fact that this young man has made some kind of statement of Christian commitment. And no doubt even in the fact you're having these conversations knows a great deal about Christianity. You say you share biblical beliefs except for this, but the except for this is just absolutely massive. And so I will just hope you'll have the opportunity. I say this to this 18 year old listener, young man, I just hope you will have the opportunity to share with your friend exactly what you think is happening out of Romans chapter one, exactly what you think is happening in your friend's life and heart right out of Romans 1. Suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. And you know, if your friend is a Christian, then we believe the Holy Spirit will work within him to convict him of sin and to draw him into holiness and conformity to Christ. And so we need to pray. That's what happens. I know you will. I will also tell you this. I understand this may be a real test of friendship, but it is very interesting, as you say, that this issue comes up every time you have a serious conversation. I think that sexuality in general, and especially when someone is committed to something like homosexuality and homosexual identity, and it is within the context of a conversation with a Christian, I think this is going to come up. Clearly he trusts you in this conversation and that's a good thing. And I admire you for being trustworthy in this kind of conversation. I just would encourage you to share with him the reality of what God's word says. And I know you're praying for him to repent of sin. And by the way, one of the things the Bible doesn't say to someone, a young man struggling with homosexual temptation, the Bible doesn't say that will immediately go away. This may be a very long struggle for this young man and it would be hopeless but for the power of the Gospel, the indwelling Holy Spirit and the ministry of the word of God and the fellowship of the saints, the means of grace. And so no one says this is going to be easy, but we do need to say the Bible really is clear. All right, another question from a young man. This young man is 23 years old and it's about sports gambling. He mentions that on the briefing. I've talked a lot about sports gambling recently. And then he says, what do you think about playing games with friends for money? Poker, fantasy football? A couple of my friends want to start a high stakes fantasy football league next season with $100 buy in. And I'M trying to decide whether there's a moral objection to that. I see it as a way to connect with them, build relationships, and possibly present the gospel. But it's an activity that has inherent risk and luck. Thanks in advance. Okay, that's an honest question. And I think, you know, I want to be clear. The big problem here is gambling. And it's an addictive behavior, it's a seductive behavior. And especially when someone gives himself over to it, it becomes very, very destructive of marriage, very destructive of family, destructive of moral responsibility and all the rest. And I do want to say that I think that as dangerous as gambling is, and it is appetitive, so it's just a little bit. Then it becomes more, it becomes more and it becomes more. I don't want want to say that friends who, you know, are just having a little bit of fun with some pocket change, you know, a few dollars in terms of a game, you know, that is not the main concern here. You know, if you factor that into the, say, the cost of a night's entertainment, then that's different. That is not the way the gambling industry works. That is not the kind of predatory behavior that you see in commercial gambling. And it also, the higher you get, the more you're gambling, the less it is, say, an innocent game, and the more it is a real vulnerability. And so I think, and I appreciate this young man asking the question the way he did. I think in the question is the answer. Let me just be honest here, and I want to tell you why. It's because this young man wrote the question very carefully. Listen to this. A couple of my friends want to start a high stakes fantasy football league. Okay, I hear the words high stakes. That is an alarm bell to me, right? So in other words, this isn't a bunch of friends just having some fun and rather than getting ice cream, they're playing with this. This is now high stakes. So high stakes means there's serious money in the game. And let me just say that, let's just bracket the morality of gambling for a moment. What does this do to friendship? Now? I don't know. I've never participated in such a thing. But it seems to me that could be a real vulnerability. So I just want to say to this young man, look, the answer is, I think in the question, the higher the financial stakes, the higher the moral stakes, the higher is the opportunity. This becomes far more than a game and becomes a real matter of moral risk. The more likely this is. It could be injurious of relationships and all the rest of the. So I think in using the words here, high stakes, you've kind of indicated the importance of the issue. So I pray that the Lord will guide you into how you can best exercise your friendship with these other young men. And I pray you do have those opportunities for the gospel. Okay, I want to say again, I'm honored by all the questions sent to me and there's some amazing questions and from some amazing people and there's a pattern today of young men asking questions. So now we're going even younger. This is a 13 year old boy who writes me the question. This is what he says. He says, I've grown up in a reformed Baptist Christian church. He says, I consider myself a Christian. I feel like my calling to honor God is as an astronomer and I hope to pursue a future in academics. First of all, here's a 13 year old boy who's interested in astronomy and already feels it is a life calling. Okay? So.