Yeah. We are in the midst of the same dispute in California. Ironically, frats have an exemption allowing gender discrimination...
E Sent from my iPhone > On Aug 30, 2014, at 12:30, "BILROJ via Centroids: The Center of the Radical > Centrist Community" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > The American Conservative > > She Was The Wrong Kind Of Christian > > By Rod Dreher • August 26, 2014 > Tish Harrison Warren thought she was the “right” kind of Evangelical, 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. 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, 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 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. 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. > > -- > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community > <[email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. 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