>>> From "AIDS Panel Choice Wrote of a 'Gay Plague'" by Ceci Connolly, Washington Post, 23 Jan 2003:

The Bush administration has chosen Jerry Thacker, a Pennsylvania marketing consultant who has characterized AIDS as the "gay plague," to serve on the Presidential Advisory Commission on HIV and AIDS.

Next week, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson is scheduled to swear in several new commission members. They include Thacker, a former Bob Jones University employee, who says he contracted the AIDS virus after his wife was infected through a blood transfusion.

Thacker just so happens to be a fundamentalist Christian who rails against homosexuality, which he calls a "deathstyle" comparable to incest and bestiality. Or at least, he used to rail against people who dig the same gender. If you search the Web now that Thacker is on the AIDS Commission, you'll find that his more outre comments have disappeared. But like Lazarus, Thacker's true feelings have been resurrected thanks to the divine powers of Google's cache and the Internet Archive.

update (24 Jan 2003): Due to criticism, Thacker has withdrawn from AIDS panel [read more]

Thacker's ministry outfit is called the Scepter Institute. Before he got tapped by Bush, his bio page contained this sentence:

He knew vaguely about the "gay plague" known as AIDS, but it seemed a distant threat.

Now it just says:

He knew vaguely about the plague known as AIDS, but it seemed a distant threat.

Current page | Google cache of original page
The Memory Hole mirror of original page
Internet Archive mirror of original page (24 Oct 2001)

Another page on the Scepter Institute's Website lists "Live Presentations." There used to be eight such presentations; now there are seven. Which one is missing?

Help for Homosexuals. A message on the nature of homosexuality and how Christ can rescue the homosexual. Includes statistics on homosexual behavior, tips for ministry to those practicing this "deathstyle" and information on the homosexual movement and its political agenda.

Current page | Google cache of original page
The Memory Hole mirror of original page
Internet Archive mirror of original page (24 Oct 2001)

The Website SermonAudio.com provides free Christian sermons, lectures, etc. in streaming audio and MP3 formats. They used to have a sermon called "The Myths of Homosexuality" by Jerry Thacker. It's gone.

Here's the link where it used to be. Now the page says, "Could not locate requested sermon.."

Every reference to "The Myths of Homosexuality" has been deleted, as well. Almost a dozen pages on the site used to list it. Now they don't. For example, at the bottom of the page "Germany Approves Gay Rights," this used to appear:

But now, this is what you see:

Check out Google's cache for other pages that have been changed in this way.

The vanished listing notes that Thacker's sermon on "The Myths of Homosexuality" is based on Romans 1:16-32. This beautiful passage discusses the "wrath" of God toward the "unrighteous," the "unclean," the "haters of God," etc., etc., which most specifically includes men who have sex with other men.

Does anyone happen to have a copy of this sermon? If so, please send it.

Current page | Google cache of original page
The Memory Hole mirror of the original page

The following sermons were on a page at the fundamentalist Bob Jones University, which forbade interracial dating among its students until March 2000 (when it became the center of national controversy) [read more]. Apparently holding hands in public and dancing are still forbidden, however. These campus sermons by Thacker are now gone.

Tuesday, September 25, 2001

Mr. Jerry Thacker of Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, spoke today on homosexuality.

When he and his wife discovered in 1986 that they had contracted HIV, the most horrible thought was that it was a disease connected with the sin of homosexuality. They didn't want anyone to think they were homosexual because they knew what the Bible said about homosexuality.

The media has programmed us to think a certain way about this sinful lifestyle or, as Mr. Thacker calls it, "deathstyle." Romans 1:16-32 tells how we should think about homosexuality. This passage shows a nation setting itself up for all kinds of bad things to happen, one of those is homosexuality.

Our nation has pushed away the truth, taken the Ten Commandments out of school, prohibited praying at school and athletic functions, and cast God out of public facilities. Many people believe that AIDS is the judgment of God on our nation, but Mr. Thacker believes that homosexuality is the judgment of God on America.

What is homosexuality? The dictionary defines it as exhibiting sexual desire toward a member of one's own sex. It is not about love between men and men, or women and women, because there is the love of a father for a son, or the love of brothers for one another. It is sexual activity with the same sex.

The media tries to present this lifestyle in a good light. When a supposed homosexual man was murdered by two young men, it was front-page news. But when two homosexual men in their 20's and 30's raped and tortured a thirteen-year-old boy for two days before killing him, you didn't hear anything about it. It didn't get reported. There is a huge cover-up where homosexuals are concerned.

HIV can only be transmitted by the exchange of body fluids and is still primarily contracted by homosexual men, who have a large number of sexual partners over their lifetime. This is not a beneficial lifestyle. Alcohol and drug abuse are high, 35-40% experience deep depression, 40% have contemplated suicide. Eighty-four percent of AIDS cases are transmitted by homosexuals. The life span of a homosexual man is 42 years, half of that of other men.

Homosexuality is not inborn biologically, just as incest and bestiality are not inborn. Studies have shown that thousands of homosexuals have been set free from this sin. It is a chosen lifestyle (deathstyle), not an inborn one.

Homosexuals have stated that 10% of the population is homosexual. This is not true, only 2% have homosexual tendencies, and only 1% are exclusively homosexual. Homosexuals do not need special rights; they do not require minority status. Theirs is a human behavior, not a race.

Be compassionate to those caught up in this sinful deathstyle. Let them know you care, but at the same time let them know homosexuality is a sin. Most people find the homosexual behavior vile and disgusting. Only when homosexuals know it is sin can they repent (I Corinthians 6:9-10).

God judges and condemns all sin because He is holy. He hates the sin, but loves the sinner. These people are looking for love. They have been hurt by the past and are trying to compensate for the lack of love in their homes and lives. We need to show them the love of Christ. Help them to understand that only Christ can forgive sin.

Monday, September 24, 2001

Mr. Jerry Thacker of Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, spoke today from Job.

Mr. Thacker, his wife, and their teenage daughter all suffer from the HIV virus. Mrs. Thacker contracted the disease in 1984 from a blood transfusion at the time of the birth of their daughter. They found out about the disease in 1986. At that time it was discovered that Mr. Thacker and their daughter (who became infected from breast-feeding) were also infected with HIV.

Why did this happen to Christians who were trying to live for God? Mr. Thacker had never had an illicit relationship. He didn't even know a homosexual; yet in 1986 he found he had HIV. For seven years they kept it a secret from their three young children.

In 1986 the life span of someone with HIV was about five years; with full-blown AIDS it was eighteen months. They didn't want their children worrying about losing their parents. The Thackers have lived seventeen years. Their personal faith in Christ and the character training they received at Bob Jones University have helped them go through this.

In 1995 their sixteen-year-old son died with meningitis. Some might wonder, "Where is God? Why do bad things happen to God's people? Does God care?" The Scripture is clear -- God is in control.

First Job loses everything that is valuable to him except his wife. Next God allows Job to have physical testing so bad that all he could do was sit in the ashes and scrape himself with a broken pot. Yet he remained faithful to God.

Mr. Thacker has seen his wife suffering greatly and close to death four times in the last seventeen years. Yet she has always been faithful and trusted God through it all. God allows His people to go through testing so they'll know what is really important in life. God upholds, directs, and controls all things by His wisdom and providence.

Christians are not guaranteed good things on earth. This world is not a friendly place. But God doesn't let anything touch us that doesn't go through His hands first. We don't know what tomorrow might bring. This is the day to live for the Lord. God will take care of tomorrow.

He is working out all to our good and His glory. Job was a man of character. He was not defined by his suffering, but by his character. The trial did not define Job. Before the testing Job had already decided to follow God.

God wants us to exercise submission, faith, and prayer. What defines your life? Determine before you have a trial that you will stand and obey. Here at Bob Jones University you will learn how to live as well as how to make a living. You need to learn to trust God no matter what comes.

When trials come (and they will come), will you stand? Can God trust you with trials? May your character be defined by a relationship with Jesus Christ. If you don't have a personal relationship with the Savior, you need take care of that before this day ends.

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