Wheaton generally espouses a “Young Earth” version of creation (six calendar days, ~6000 years ago) although they do allow professors to have a measure of flexibility around the calendar days bit. They do not consider the “big bang” to be factual. (Interesting tidbit - that theory was first proposed by a scientist who was also a Catholic priest.)
Wheaton has expelled students for being gay, although not in the past few years, where there’s been a bit more tolerance, at least for being lesbian or gay, as long as one is not sexually active. They’ve disciplined people for playing cards. I know of three students who’ve attended (between 1984 and 1993), all of whom were pretty conservative Christians, and all of whom left in horror after a year.
On the one hand, I believe that the college has every right to enforce its beliefs however it wants to do so, including the action it has taken towards this professor. However, it’s probably time to consider whether their doing so is consistent with the obligations they have as a recipient of federal money. If they want to go totally private (accept no federal money at all), more power to 'em. They need to be willing to give up the federal funds, though, and I’m sure they aren’t.
“I know of three students who’ve attended (between 1984 and 1993), all of whom were pretty conservative Christians, and all of whom left in horror after a year.”
Wheaton’s Sophomore retention rate has been between 94-95% the last few years. Can’t imagine there are a large number of students “leaving in horror”. The fact you knew 3 students and they all left in horror is quite amazing.
What makes this surprising to me is that Wheaton has had the reputation of being the most academically open of the Christian colleges–very different from, say, Liberty. This episode will, in my opinion, be harmful to that reputation. And it was so unnecessary. The phrases about “people of the book” and worshiping the same God are so general that they should have been ignored.
In my smug opinion, an intelligent evangelical should have no problem with what this teacher said and did.
Wheaton has always been considered a top-tier Christian college, albeit very conservative. Still, I’m surprised they’d fire a professor solely for acknowledging that Muslims, along with Christians and Jews, worship the God of Abraham. Obviously, Muslims, Christians and Jews view–and worship–God differently, but it’s not as if she was PRACTICING any other Abrahamic faith.
This is a deep theological issue among evangelical Christians (see here: http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3072), and I understand that many conclude that the Christian God and Allah are not one and the same, but my impression is that the professor was just trying to express commonality with Muslims, to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Clearly, they believe that only born-again Christians will enter Heaven, so maybe that’s why they feel so strongly that they have to draw a very clear line regarding “other gods.”
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They do not consider the “big bang” to be factual. (Interesting tidbit - that theory was first proposed by a scientist who was also a Catholic priest.)
Wheaton has expelled students for being gay, although not in the past few years, where there’s been a bit more tolerance, at least for being lesbian or gay, as long as one is not sexually active. They’ve disciplined people for playing cards. I know of three students who’ve attended (between 1984 and 1993), all of whom were pretty conservative Christians, and all of whom left
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This school sounds like another version of Liberty Uni.
Well, i don’t know if the “big bang” theory should be considered “factual.” It’s a theory. Anyway, there’s no issue if the theory was proposed by a Catholic priest. The Church is not opposed to the theory as long as God was the First Cause.
They have no business thinking that only “born-again Christians” will enter heaven. That’s God’s job to decide, not humans’.
I’d have crossed off Wheaton from my list of colleges after I found out dancing, even off campus, was verboten! Really, what about dancing scares the bejeezus out of Wheaton and Baylor?
@musicamusica, Prof. Hawkins wasn’t suspended for wearing a hijab. She was put on administrative leave for allegedly violating Wheaton’s Statement of Faith:
Why they can’t simply say that Muslims worship the same God, but are just doing it wrong, is beyond me. Somebody at Wheaton is giving in to a self-destructive impulse.
@romanigypsyeyes, again, the decision has NOTHING to do with wearing a “veil of some sort.”
It’s a decision about doctrinal purity NOT clothing.
@Hunt, I suspect the administration is caught between a rock and a hard place with some of their trustees and alumni. For evangelicals, doctrinal purity is inherent to the mission of a school like Wheaton and is its raison d’être.
Hi everyone! Recent Wheaton grad here and occasional lurker of these forums. I currently attend a law school at a very secular university in the Morningside Heights area of Manhattan.
Maybe it’s the law student in me, but I want to emphasize that the professor’s decision to wear a hajib for Advent in a show of solidarity with unfairly persecuted groups is a non-issue. The Wheaton Administration has made clear they have no qualms about this. It was her theological statements she made in the related essay that got her in trouble. As religiously affiliated school, Wheaton asks its faculty to uphold the school’s central religious convictions, which are based upon the evangelical Protestant tradition. I guess the college admin felt her remarks about the nature of God compromised the convictions she agreed to uphold. I won’t tread into the theology debate going on in this thread because it’s obviously a very broad and complex issue, and I am not a theologian :).
I found Wheaton to be a very complex and interesting place full of smart and thoughtful professors and peers. The administration tends to be more traditional and conservative. Anyone who thinks evangelicals (a very broad umbrella term) are monolithic should visit Wheaton. It would be a fascinating anthropological study.
I agree with your sentiments, musicamusica. Personally, I think the administration is putting the enforcement of doctrine above emulating Christ’s love, which is what this professor was trying to do ultimately. In some ways, I can see why the administration is a bit paranoid/hardline about enforcing doctrine. Many universities in the USA have religious roots, but have lost that over time (i.e Georgetown, Oberlin).
Look, I’m agnostic, but I try to respect people of ALL faiths and their right to worship and believe whatever theology they so choose. Personally, I don’t see how the professor violated Wheaton’s official statement of faith. It seems to me they need to modify the statement and be much more specific about how the God of Christianity is NOT the same God as the God of Judaism or the God of Islam if that’s such a fundamental part of their doctrine.
So criticize Wheaton for their theological inconsistencies, but IMHO it’s intellectually dishonest to take potshots at the school just because you don’t agree with their practices in general or to make accusations about the school that the professor on the receiving end of the discipline hasn’t even made.
@beginagain, thank you for taking the time to sign on just to share your personal insights. And congratulations on getting into Columbia Law. Impressive!
Hi @2manybooks Recent Wheaton alum here, your assertion that what the Catholic tradition is “obviously of little interest” or value to Wheaton is simply untrue. I’ve taken many philosophy and theology classes at Wheaton, there is deep respect for Catholic thinkers like Aquinas and Augustine. In Wheaton political science classes, Catholic social teaching (common good, consistent ethic of life, etc.) are brought up constantly. We joke that half the class ends up converting to Catholicism or Anglicanism by graduation, many do!
