Shorter University, a Christian university based in Rome, Georgia, has mandated all employees sign a newly created “personal lifestyle statement” that, among other demands insists they “reject as acceptable all sexual activity not in agreement with the Bible, including, but not limited to, premarital sex, adultery and homosexuality.” Shorter, a private, coeducational, liberal arts university, has 200 employees, and was founded in 1873. Employees who refuse to sign the lifestyle statement are subject to termination.
On its website, Shorter quotes Trustee Chair-Elect Joe Frank Harris, Jr., discussing the new policies:
“The ‘why’ is really simple: What you stand for matters. Proverbs 3:5-6 tell us to ‘Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.’ If we acknowledge Him, He will make this university’s path straight.â€
“Our goal is not to offend people,” Don Dowless, the school’s president, told Fox News. “Our goal is to declare who we are.”
Dowless said if employees indicate a preference for any sexual activity “not agreeable with the Bible,” they will be terminated.
“I think that anybody who adheres to a lifestyle that is outside of what the Biblical mandate is — what the board has passed, including the president — would not be allowed to continue here,” he told the station.
Dowless reportedly says the pledge is legal because the private university does not receive any federal funding.
Some Shorter University students, however, claim the requirement is a form of discrimination.
“Who is one person to judge what somebody else does?” said one student, who spoke anonymously to the station. “It’s none of their business.”
Students are reportedly not being asked to sign the pledge.
The Daily Mail reports Dowless also said, “I think that anybody who adheres to a lifestyle that is outside of what the biblical mandate is and of what the board has passed, including the president, would not be allowed to continue here.”
“Anything outside that is not biblical, we do not accept.”
“We have a right to hire only Christians.”
Laura Douglas-Brown at The Georgia Voice has interviewed a gay man who works for Shorter University. He says, “I’m not likely to stay with the University because of the fundamentalist movement and the possibility of witch hunts.”
“We now will live in fear that someone who doesn’t like us personally or someone who has had a bad day will report that we’ve been drinking or that we are suspected of being gay,” said the employee, who declined to reveal his name due to the policy.
…
Why are you upset about this policy?
The policy has a few major parts:
a. Be an active member of a local church
On the surface, this isn’t so sinister. Shorter is a Christian school. However, there are no guidelines here. What is “active?” Does it mean simply attending or does it mean participating in the various groups and clubs within the Church? How are we to be measured as meeting this requirement? Further, I would say that this requirement automatically rules out any church that is obviously gay-friendly. Were I to report that I attend a Metropolitan Community Church or other church that had a strong GBLTQ outreach, it would raise immediate questions to the fundamental Baptist administration of the school. So, I do not feel free to worship where I choose as a gay Christian man.
b. I will be loyal to the mission of the University.
This isn’t anything to be upset about. Any employer would want loyalty. However, loyalty, to me, isn’t something you simply create by forcing employees to sign a document. Loyalty is to be freely given.
c. I will not engage in activities involving illegal drugs
This is a no-brainer. Obviously, no employer wants employees who pose this risk.
d. I will reject as acceptable all sexual activity not in agreement with the Bible, including, but not limited to, premarital sex, adultery, and homosexuality.
This is interesting to me because the statement could have been less offensive if the examples were not included. Why key in on any of them if all sexual activity that isn’t in agreement with the Bible is prohibited? To me, this hints at an anti-gay stance. When taken in context with the very vague comments made by current Board Chairman Dr. Nelson Price in the Rome News Tribune, I would say that doing these things will get you fired.
It also seems to place homosexuality in a different category. By that, I mean that adultery and pre-marital sex are, in fact, choices. Homosexuality is not. I know this point is up for debate in the fundamental Christian world, but to the rest of the world, we know that it isn’t a choice. Without getting in to that whole debate, it does seem anti-gay to hone in on something that is not a choice and that has so few references in the Bible when compared to the myriad heterosexual “thou shall nots.”
e. I will not use alcoholic beverages in the presence of students, I won’t drink in public at all, and I won’t come to any University event within six hours of having had a drink.
It is easy to understand not wanting employees to drink in front of impressionable students and even to ask them not to come to an event smelling of alcohol. The issue with this item is the overreach. Now we can’t have a glass of wine at a restaurant?
A question about these things is how they will be enforced. We now will live in fear that someone who doesn’t like us personally or someone who has had a bad day will report that we’ve been drinking or that we are suspected of being gay. What happens then? There is no defined process and even if there were, there is no way to absolutely prove or disprove the accusation.
Shorter has said in TV interviews that this isn’t really a big change, that the statement was already in the employee handbook. Do you agree or disagree, and why?
I disagree. Homosexuality or having a drink haven’t been mentioned in any document I’ve seen until now. I very specifically sought out the term “homosexuality” when I made the decision to come to Shorter. It seemed reasonably progressive to me, at least for the Baptist world, not to single out homosexuals.