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This article originally appeared on Patheos.
Title IX protection of transgender students on college campuses is clashing with Christian colleges’ claimed right to religious expression. What to do?
How do we accommodate trans students and protect these colleges’ stated values? It’s a huge question, and it’s not going away.
This Huffington Post piece gives an overview of the battle in many university campuses, including George Fox, Simpson and Spring Arbor.
In a letter to the Department of Education, interim Simpson President Dr. Robin Dummer wrote that the school cannot “support or encourage” an individual who lives in “conflict with biblical principles,” noting that students who violate campus standards for biblical living are subject to disciplinary measures, including expulsion. For example, Simpson would not permit a “female student presenting herself as a male” to use the restroom, locker room and living accommodations of her choice or to participate in men’s athletic programs, Dummer wrote.
Alright, got it. Dummer wants to protect Biblical principles. He did not specify which Biblical principles he means, but I don’t think he included all the relevant principles values in his letter — I found a few more.
Clearly, these Biblical values are not part of many Christian college policies towards transgender students – all stated “in Jesus name.” And they are not part of how much of the church treats anyone they deem as somehow “less than.”
Why not?
If you understand transgender students, or any human being from a place of humility, God might indeed show you something you have not yet seen.
At the very least, you would glimpse God’s heart toward God’s children.
That reflects true Biblical Values and the “astoundingly good news” that is the gospel.
Susan Cottrell is a speaker, author of Mom, I’m Gay—Loving Your LGBTQ Child without Sacrificing Your Faith, and founder of FreedHearts.org.
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