Dropping the ball

World Magazine has an article covering the reaction of various Christian colleges to Soulforce. Among other things, the article says:

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Liberty chancellor Jerry Falwell said the school refused to give the group permission to enter campus because of an obligation to parents "not to expose their children to a media circus that might present immorality in a positive light." He noted that Liberty had hosted the group last year. (Soulforce founder and gay activist Mel White is a former evangelical author who once worked with Mr. Falwell, helping him to write a book more than a decade ago.) Ms. Disel was one of 24 Equality Riders who stepped onto Liberty's campus on March 10 and was peacefully arrested and released without bail.

Four days later, six more riders were similarly arrested at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va. Regent spokeswoman Melanie Temple said the school initially worked with Equality Ride to set up panel discussions. Regent rescinded its offer when Equality Ride failed to remove a statement from its website that read: "Regent University has refused dialogue thus far with Equality Ride. . . ." In a letter to Mr. Reitan, associate vice president Randall Pannell said the group was no longer welcome "due to Equality Ride's public misrepresentation of Regent University." Mr. Reitan says Regent never asked the group to remove the statement.

Lee University, the group's third stop, did not bar the riders from campus, and Ms. Disel hoped for interaction with students and led a role-playing exercise beforehand in which riders took turns showering each other with crude insults and practicing stoic responses. Two hours later at a picnic hosted by the riders in the park, the group found they wouldn't need the practice. Several Lee students showed up to eat grilled hot dogs and have friendly conversation.

When riders showed up at Lee's student union later in the afternoon, they found more students eager to talk. Small groups of students and riders sat scattered around tables in the union and the patio outside, discussing everything from Old Testament law to whether a person is born gay. Christina Vera, a freshman from Atlanta, said she wasn't sure she was up for an intense debate, but that she wanted to "hear their stories and find out how I can pray for them. . . . They're hurting just like everyone else."

Though Mr. Reitan said Lee students received the group well, he was disappointed the administration didn't provide an open forum for the group on campus. Lee University president Paul Conn told WORLD he asked the group not to visit, saying it "wouldn't be constructive." When Equality Ride insisted, Mr. Conn says he told the group they would not be allowed to formally assemble on campus or make presentations: "I told them that we are unwilling to provide any kind of platform that might signify that we regard their viewpoint as having any parity with our viewpoint."

Mr. Conn pointed out that Lee's school policy prohibits not just homosexuality, but all sexual relations outside of marriage between a man and a woman. He says he did offer to stage a debate between representatives of Equality Ride and Lee University. "I even told them I could get it on public access television," he says, "but they refused to debate." He also says he encouraged students to treat any visitors to the campus "with kindness and respect."

As the group travels east, other schools are preparing for their visits. Stan Jones, provost of Wheaton College in Illinois, says his school is conducting six preparatory sessions dealing with topics like biblical teaching on homosexuality, and homosexuality in the church. Though Equality Ride "won't have free run of the campus," Mr. Jones says, the school will host faculty-supervised panel discussions. The school wants to strengthen students' understanding of the biblical teaching against homosexuality, he said. The visit, he hopes, will teach students about the "jumble" in mainline denominations regarding homosexuality, "and help them prevent the same thing from happening in the evangelical church."

Scott Davis of Exodus International, a Christian ministry that helps people come out of homosexuality, says Equality Ride's visits are more than complicated challenges for school administrators: "It's very dangerous when a student is struggling with same-sex attraction and a group comes to campus, saying, 'It's great to be gay.'"

Mr. Davis says five schools on Equality Ride's route have asked Exodus to help prepare their students for the group's visits. Exodus has conducted seminars and chapel talks on the pro-gay agenda, the Bible's teaching about homosexuality, how to help a friend who is gay, and interacting with homosexuals with "compassion and kindness" while "not compromising the truth."

Mr. Davis says families, churches, and Christian schools need to foster an environment in which young people struggling with homosexuality can ask for help. "It's definitely a big issue," he said. "Most of the students who call us for help are from Christian schools and universities."

http://www.worldmag.com/articles/11673

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It’s clear that many of our Christian institutions of higher learning don’t have their act together when dealing with a challenge like this.

What’s the point of sending your kid to a Christian college if he’s unable to explain and defend the faith?

Obviously a group like Soulforce cannot be allowed to turn a Christian campus into a soapbox for their moral and political agenda.

But turning a Christian college into a fortress is hardly the right response.

One needs to strike a balance between a bunker and a doormat.

It’s the job of a Christian college to prepare students for this sort of interaction.

In that respect, Wheaton has set a good example, while Exodus International is a valuable parachurch ministry in bringing Christian colleges up to speed.