Colleges Withdraw Recognition From Christian Groups For Not Allowing Non-Christians To Lead Them
It seems like a no-brainer. One would expect that the president of an
arts club would have an interest in art. Or that the leader of the
College Republicans or College Democrats would themselves be a
Republican or a Democrat, respectively. Or that the captain of the club
golf team can play golf. But when it comes to religious clubs on college
campuses, the same logic doesn’t apply.
Bowdoin College’s Christian Fellowship will no longer be recognized after the end of this school year. No, they didn’t lose their campus privileges because they threw wild parties or hazed freshmen. Instead, they refused the college’s demands to allow anyone, regardless of their faith, to run for election as the leader of their group,the New York Times reports. And it’s not just at Bowdoin – it’s happening across the country.
Evangelical groups have also lost their status at Vanderbilt, Tufts University, the State University of New York at Buffalo, and Rollins College in Florida. Cal State’s 23 campuses are preparing to withdraw recognition this summer on all Christian groups that “are refusing to pledge not to discriminate on the basis of religion in the selection of their leaders.”
Members of the groups are holding fast. They say they would rather dissolve their group than concede their beliefs.
via New York Times:
Those evangelical groups maintain that they welcome all students: non-believers, Christians, gay men, lesbians, straight people, and members of other faiths. All they want is that their leader believes that Jesus Christ was divine and rose from the dead, and that they abstain from sex before marriage – whether gay or straight.
In their efforts to be politically correct, these universities have gone way overboard. The groups welcome everyone to their meetings – they just want the club to be led by a Christian, because that’s the very nature of their group. This kneejerk reaction will only hurt students, and make college administrators look foolish.
Bowdoin College’s Christian Fellowship will no longer be recognized after the end of this school year. No, they didn’t lose their campus privileges because they threw wild parties or hazed freshmen. Instead, they refused the college’s demands to allow anyone, regardless of their faith, to run for election as the leader of their group,the New York Times reports. And it’s not just at Bowdoin – it’s happening across the country.
Evangelical groups have also lost their status at Vanderbilt, Tufts University, the State University of New York at Buffalo, and Rollins College in Florida. Cal State’s 23 campuses are preparing to withdraw recognition this summer on all Christian groups that “are refusing to pledge not to discriminate on the basis of religion in the selection of their leaders.”
Members of the groups are holding fast. They say they would rather dissolve their group than concede their beliefs.
via New York Times:
“It would compromise our ability to be who we are as Christians if we can’t hold our leaders to some sort of doctrinal standard,” said Zackary Suhr, 23, who has just graduated from Bowdoin, where he was a leader of the Bowdoin Christian Fellowship.Vanderbilt pushed all student groups to sign an anti-discrimination pledge after a Christian fraternity expelled a member of the group who came out as gay. One-third of the school’s 35 religious groups refused to sign.
Those evangelical groups maintain that they welcome all students: non-believers, Christians, gay men, lesbians, straight people, and members of other faiths. All they want is that their leader believes that Jesus Christ was divine and rose from the dead, and that they abstain from sex before marriage – whether gay or straight.
In their efforts to be politically correct, these universities have gone way overboard. The groups welcome everyone to their meetings – they just want the club to be led by a Christian, because that’s the very nature of their group. This kneejerk reaction will only hurt students, and make college administrators look foolish.
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