American Family Radio (AFR), a broadcast division of American Family Association (AFA), announced on Wednesday (Jan. 24) that it is dropping well-known pastor Alistair Begg‘s daily radio program, “Truth for Life,” following Begg’s controversial remarks about Christians attending LGBTQ+ weddings.
In a September 2023 interview for his book “The Christian Manifesto,” Begg shared that he encouraged a grandmother to attend her grandson’s transgender wedding.
Begg said that he knew people wouldn’t like his answer, but that didn’t stop him. After confirming that the woman’s grandson understood that she doesn’t affirm his choice to marry a trans person, Begg said, “Well then, okay. As long as he knows that, then I suggest that you do go to the ceremony. And I suggest that you buy them a gift.”
RELATED: Alistair Begg Takes Heat for Advising Grandmother To Attend Grandchild’s Transgender Wedding
Begg then told the grandmother, “Well, here’s the thing: Your love for them may catch them off guard, but your absence will simply reinforce the fact that they said, ‘These people are what I always thought: judgmental, critical, unprepared to countenance anything.’”
According to its website, AFR’s mission “is to inform, equip, and activate individuals and families to transform American culture and to give aid to the church, here and abroad, in its calling to fulfill the Great Commission.”
AFR Vice President Ed Vitagliano told the American Family Network (AFN), “Pastor Begg’s program will no longer air on American Family Radio. He is an excellent Bible teacher. We certainly wish him the best.”
The decision no longer to air Begg’s radio program came after Vitagliano and AFA Vice President Walker Wildmon talked with the people who represent Begg. Vitagliano and Wildmon had hoped the call would result in “reconciliation.” However, Begg intends to stand by the advice he gave.
Wildmon informed AFN that the two ministries agreed on the biblical definition of marriage, saying, “We were all in agreement that homosexual marriage is just as the Bible declares it, it’s a faux marriage. It’s not an actual marriage. It is a sinful union.” However, the AFN “strongly disagrees” with Begg’s advice to attend a wedding ceremony that involves a trans person.
In Begg’s interview, he admitted that his response to the grandmother’s situation is a “fine line,” but he believes Christians need to start taking risks to build bridges for the gospel.
