Gay students struggle for acceptance at evangelical schools

The New York Times [subscription may be required] has an article exploring how gay and lesbian students are struggling for acceptance at various evangelical Christian colleges and universities that see homosexual practice as a sin. The students want to be open about their sexual identity and to be able to form campus clubs. The schools often oppose such moves. The article draws examples from Baylor University, Belmont University, Abilene Christian University, Harding University, and North Central University (in Minneapolis).

St. John’s won’t recognize gay-straight alliance; Students protest

Students at St. John’s University in New York are protesting the University’s decision not to recognize a gay-straight alliance. University officials explain that they cannot recognize any group that is inconsistent with Roman Catholic teachings. Students point to what they see as inconsistencies in the policy.

"We need a gay-straight alliance at St. John’s for the same reason that there are organizations for other minorities," said senior Tim Spriggs, 20, of Columbia, Md.

The school is "ignoring a significant part of the student population," said Spriggs, who is not gay.

Students were also quick to point out that the school allows a slew of ethnic and religious organizations, including Jewish and Muslim groups.

[The New York Daily News via Inside Higher Ed]

Marquette U. to offer domestic partner benefits

Marquette plans to offer domestic partner benefits to its employees in 2012.

The decision by Marquette comes nearly after a year after the school announced that it was rescinding a job offer to Jodi O’Brien, a lesbian and scholar at Seattle University, involving concerns relating to Marquette’s "Catholic mission and identity" and their incompatibility with some of O’Brien’s scholarly writings.

The university said at the time that the decision to rescind the job offer did not have anything to do with O’Brien’s sexual orientation.

The State of Wisconsin gives legal recognition both to marriage for heterosexual couples and to a registered domestic partnership for same-sex couples.

In a statement Marquette President Robert A. Wild said, “If we are truly pastoral in our application of the Jesuit principle of cura personalis, I asked myself if I could reconcile that with denying health benefits to a couple who have legally registered their commitment to each other.”

[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Inside Higher Ed]

A widening gap between Catholic youth and their spiritual leaders

Michael O’Loughlin, one of the bloggers at America:The National Catholic Weekly offers reflections and useful links on the widening gap between Catholic laity in America, especially young people, and their spiritual leaders and teachers, especially on homosexuality. His suggestion:

Despite the campaigns, statements, and preaching, lay Catholics lead the nation in support of gay rights. At some point, something has to give. Will the church change its stance on homosexuality? Of course not. Catholicism is the largest denomination in the US, but it is still a tiny sliver of the global church, and attitudes elsewhere, especially in the growing hotspots of global Catholicism, remain rigidly conservative. But church leaders may want to reconsider where they focus their limited time, energy, and resources. The battle for gay rights in this nation increasingly looks like it will be won-eventually-by those who support them. The church can continue to be a vocal minority in opposition to change, alienating the many people who increasingly know, love, and accept gay family members and friends. Or, it can refocus its efforts to highlight the love of God that animates a nourishing, life-giving, freeing faith, and attempt to reach those who need this love most: those who feel marginalized by the church now.

Chestnut Hill reaches settlement with gay priest

Inside Higher Ed reports that Rev. James St. George, a gay priest in the Old Catholic Apostolic Church of the Americas, announced that he had reached “an amicable resolution” with Chestnut Hill College, a Roman Catholic College, on the decision to end his adjunct course.

"This resolution is consistent with each party’s respective religious beliefs and was arrived at over this past weekend," said his statement. "Chestnut Hill College and I have expressed our respect for each other’s churches, however different our religious principles may be. We are committed to moving forward and tending to our respective ministries.

Air Force Academy asks for informal review of religion on campus

The Air Force Academy has asked retired Air Force General Patrick K. Gable, former commandant of cadets at the Academy and currently president of the University of Alaska, informally to review how the Academy was doing since charges of religious intolerance were lodged in 2004.

Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, criticized the scope of the review.

The problem at the school is not with any restriction on the free exercise of religion, but with unwanted proselytizing by fundamentalist Christians, a violation of the constitutional concept of the separation of church and state, he said.

Gamble said he was assembling a team of five or six members with expertise in law, religion, and academics and had not yet decided whether they would look at the separation issue.

[The Associated Press]

A “constructive engagement” between evangelicals and science

Inside Higher Ed reports on a session at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science entitled “Evangelicals, Science, and Policy: Toward a Constructive Engagement.”

The session’s précis reads:

Evangelical Christians constitute approximately 30 percent of the U.S. population, and their influence on public policy is considerable. As a community with major concerns regarding science, ethics, and national priorities, its impact on science policy has been particularly significant, as in the case of stem cell research. Around such controversial issues, communication between science and evangelical Christianity has been hampered by limited appreciation of both the scientific facts and each others’ concerns. On the other hand, new models of positive engagement between these communities around global issues such as climate change is encouraging awareness and leading to science policies that benefit both science and society as a whole. As science progresses in other disciplines, evangelicals will continue to play a significant role, but their positions on many of these issues have not yet been fully formed. The opportunity thus exists to anticipate concerns and to develop a positive understanding that will benefit scientific advancement. One example is neuroscience, which has implications for both policy-making and religious understanding. Speakers will discuss their experiences with stem cell and climate change policy and explore how these experiences can inform engagement between the scientific and evangelical communities to benefit policies relating both to neuroscience and to science more generally.

Three papers were presented:

James Childress, University of Virginia
Evangelical Christians and Stem Cell Research Policy

James McCarthy, Harvard University
The Scientists and Evangelicals Initiative: Partnering To Protect the Environment

William Newsome, Stanford University School of Medicine
Neuroscience and Evangelical Christianity: Anticipating and Alleviating Concerns

Inside Higher Ed provides an overview and background, together with a number of useful links.

This piece could set the stage for a wide-ranging faculty discussion.

Belmont recognizes gay group

Belmont University has officially recognized Bridge Builders, a group that aims to explore the intersection of Christian faith and LGBT related issues, after having previously denied it official status. The reversal follows a long dispute over the dismissal of a lesbian coach in December. For more detail, see the report in Belmont student newspaper.

[The Tennessean via Inside Higher Ed]

Harding U. blocks access to website about gay students, alums

Harding University, an institution primarily related to the “fellowship of the churches of Christ,” has blocked access to a website about gay students and alums at Harding. After the decision was reported in the Arkansas Times, the University issued a statement explaining its decision to block access to the website, which it considered to be an online version of an anonymous pamphlet that violated the University’s mission and policies.

The student handbook states that the university holds to the biblical principle that sexual relationships are unacceptable to God outside the context of marriage and that sexual immorality in any form will result in suspension from the university.

Based on that policy, university administrators felt that having this website available on campus goes against said mission and policies.

[A blog at The Arkansas Times via Inside Higher Ed]

Catholic college removes courses by gay priest

Inside Higher Ed’s Scott Jaschik reports on the controversy over the decision of Chestnut Hill College, a Roman Catholic institution in Philadelphia, to end the adjunct appointment of a gay priest. The priest, Father St. George, is part of the Old Catholic Apostolic Church of the Americas. Among the issues in dispute is whether the College knew or should have known that Father St. George was an Old Catholic and openly gay.

Inside Higher Ed also has a follow-up piece discussing a new statement by the college on its decision.