[RC] Unbelievable anti-Christian bigotry at Vanderbilt University

[BILROJ via Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community]

The American Conservative
 
 
She Was The Wrong Kind Of Christian
By _Rod  Dreher_ (http://www.theamericanconservative.com/author/rod-dreher) 
 • August 26, 2014

 
 
Tish Harrison Warren _thought  she was the “right” kind of Evangelical_ 
(http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/september/wrong-kind-of-christian-van
derbilt-university.html?share=HEM3rHy3NoDHiyDTDefd4lNjZn9ixdLt&start=1) , 
in the eyes of  Vanderbilt University, her college campus: 
I’m not a fundamentalist. My friends and I enjoy art, alcohol, and cultural 
 engagement. 
We avoid spiritual clichés and buzzwords. We value authenticity, study,  
racial reconciliation, and social and environmental justice. 
Being a Christian made me somewhat weird in my urban, progressive context,  
but despite some clear differences, I held a lot in common with unbelieving 
 friends. We could disagree about truth, spirituality, and morality, and 
remain  on the best of terms. The failures of the church often made me more  
uncomfortable than those in the broader culture.
But Vanderbilt kicked her Christian organization, the Graduate Christian  
Fellowship, off of campus. Why? Because they wouldn’t drop the requirement 
that  people who lead the group actually endorse the group’s constitutive 
principles.  That is, they expected their leaders to agree with the group’s 
statement of  doctrine and purpose. 
That wasn’t good enough for Vanderbilt. 
Warren thought that there must be some mistake, that when she met with  
Vanderbilt’s administrators, they would see that the GCF is a moderate  
Evangelical group that seeks to engage with others on campus. She was wrong: 
But as I met with other administrators, the tone began to change. The  word 
discrimination began to be used—a lot—specifically in  regard to creedal 
requirements. It was lobbed like a grenade to end all  argument. 
Administrators compared Christian students to 1960s segregationists.  I once 
mustered 
courage to ask them if they truly thought it was fair to  equate racial 
prejudice with asking Bible study leaders to affirm the  Resurrection. The vice 
chancellor replied, “Creedal discrimination is still  discrimination.” 
Feeling battered, I talked with my InterVarsity supervisor. He responded  
with a wry smile, “But we’re moderates!” We thought we were nuanced and  
reasonable. The university seemed to think of us as a threat. 
For me, it was revolutionary, a reorientation of my place in the university 
 and in culture. 
I began to realize that inside the church, the territory between Augustine  
of Hippo and Jerry Falwell seems vast, and miles lie between Ron Sider and 
Pat  Robertson. But in the eyes of the university (and much of the press),  
subscribers to broad Christian orthodoxy occupy the same square foot of  
cultural space. 
The line between good and evil was drawn by two issues: creedal belief and  
sexual expression. If religious groups required set truths or limited 
sexual  autonomy, they were bad—not just wrong but evil, narrow-minded, and too 
 
dangerous to be tolerated on campus.
That’s all that mattered to the liberals who run Vandy. At the end of the  
spring semester, she says, 14 on-campus religious organizations were  
de-recognized by the university. Vanderbilt will tolerate Christians, but only  
tame ones. 
_Read  the whole thing._ 
(http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/september/wrong-kind-of-christian-vanderbilt-university.html?share=HEM3rHy3NoDHiyDTDe
fd4lNjZn9ixdLt&start=1)  Harrison, who is now an Anglican priest, says that 
half the  problem is that Vanderbilt wants to discriminate radically 
against religious  organizations, but wants to pretend it’s not doing so. 
As I was reading this, I thought, “Who needs the university’s permission 
to  meet as a Christian organization, and to do what Christians do?” Meet, do 
your  thing, and be very public about it. Dare them to shut you down. If I 
were an  undergraduate, I would be more attracted to an organization the 
campus  authorities thought so dangerous that it ought to be shut down. Just 
what is it  about orthodox Christianity that frightens Vanderbilt’s 
administrators so? Force  the question. 
By the end of the story, it seems that that’s exactly what some of the  
Christians on campus are doing. Good for them. Interestingly, when you look at  
the list of _religious student groups still officially recognized by the  
university_ (https://anchorlink.vanderbilt.edu/organizations) , there are 
exactly three: the Muslim Student Association, Chabad,  and Zion’s Inspiration, 
a black Bible study group. I find it impossible to  believe that the MSA, 
which is rooted in the Muslim Brotherhood (see _Husain  Haqqani_ 
(http://www.hudson.org/research/9887-the-politicization-of-american-islam)  on 
that 
point) and the Chabad Lubavitch ultra-orthodox Jews, would  be willing to sign 
off on the university’s requirement (and if not, G-d bless  them for it). I’
m willing to bet the truth is that Vanderbilt’s administrators  lack the 
spine to tell Muslims, Jews, and black Christians to comply or get off  the 
campus. I could be wrong. Anybody know? If they signed the statement, why  did 
they? How could they do it with integrity? 
Anyway, as a father who has children who will soon be of college age, it’s  
important to know that Vanderbilt has become a place that is 
anti-Christian. 
UPDATE: Since posting it this morning, several of you have  demonstrated 
that there are far more religious, especially Christian, groups on  campus 
than I was able to find in the official Vandy website that I checked. I’m  not 
sure what accounts for the discrepancy, but I’m pleased to correct my  
earlier error. _Here’s the more complete list._ 
(https://anchorlink.vanderbilt.edu/organizations?SearchValue=Religious/Spiritual&SearchType=Category&CurrentPa
ge=1&SelectedCategoryId=4917)  If you are a student or teacher  at 
Vanderbilt, and are involved with any of these groups, tell me how your  
organization justified signing the university’s  pledge.

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