Kerby Anderson

Harvard University placed a Christian group (Harvard College Faith and Action) on “administrative probation” because they “pressured a female member . . . to resign in September following her decision to date a woman.” Andrew Walker, writing in The Weekly Standard, makes the issue very clear. He says, “Harvard is disciplining a Christian student group for the group’s expectation that its student leadership follow basic Christian ethical teaching on sexuality in accordance with Christianity’s 2,000-year-old doctrine on such matters.”

This is not the first time a university has asserted its right to tell a Christian group what they can and cannot believe. You might remember the case that came from Hastings College of Law at the University of California. The Christian Legal Society required members to subscribe to a “Statement of Beliefs” and refrain from certain proscribed behavior. But the university had a policy that required campus groups to accept all students regardless of their status or beliefs in order to obtain recognition.

Of course, there are some differences between these two cases. The Christian Legal Society wanted to have members agree with the basic tenets of Christianity. The Harvard group merely wanted members to refrain from sinful behavior.

The Christian leaders made this important distinction. “We reject any notion that we discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in our fellowship,” the co-presidents wrote. “Broadly speaking, the student in this case was removed because of an irreconcilable theological disagreement pertaining to our character standards.”

Once again we see how universities try to maintain the pretense that they are dedicated to diversity and tolerance until a Christian group tries to maintain some ethical standards for members and leadership in a Christian organization.