Posted by Dave on 03/12/06 at 04:21:16 pm
Categories: Religious Ravings, Religious Right, LGBTQ

It is always interesting to read about the different philosophies of Christian schools.

A while back I think I talked about the Equality Ride, but I cannot seem to find it. Maybe I never wrote about it.

The Equality Ride is a project of Soulforce, an organization started by Mel White, write of Stranger at the Gate: To be Gay and Christian in America (which is a great book by the way). The Equality Ride was created to bring attention to and to challenge the anti-gay policies at Christian and Military colleges around the country. They will be visiting 19 different schools between New York and Los Angeles. Here is their overview from their website:

At military and religious colleges around the nation, bans on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender enrollment force students into closets of fear and self-hate. These bans devalue the life of GLBT people and they slam the door on academic freedom. The Equality Ride empowers young adults to challenge these college bans.

Two of these schools that they will be visiting are Liberty University (Jerry Falwell's school) and Azusa Pacific University (my alma mater and my current home). [Aside: these are the two main schools that I looked at coming out of high school. I am pretty sure I made the correct decision!!] And these two schools have had (or will have) two very different responses. Both schools have policies that speak against homosexual activity, yet each are responding very differently to the Equality Ride.

When the group arrived at Liberty on Friday, 24 members were promptly arrested for trespassing. Liberty made it clear that not only were they against homosexuality, but that they also refused to even engage with those that think differently than them.

APU, on the other hand, has a different response in mind:

On April 5, APU has planned several activities for the 35 members from Soulforce, from attending chapel service to a discussion with student leaders. It will be an engaging day.

As we look to provide a loving response to a culturally charged issue, we lean into God's transformational power and acknowledge the value of discussion and community dialog so that we may exemplify God's love and extend God's truth. We know that our students and our community will watch how we respond. It is our hope to sit down with our guests and let the transformational power of the Holy Spirit guide and direct our conversations and interactions. In this way, God can use us to engage the hearts of our own young people. We will not compromise. But we will not treat our visitors with anything less than respect and grace in keeping faith with God's truth.

While APU remains staunchly opposed to homosexual activity, they are willing to respond to the Equality Ride in a loving and accepting manner. They are willing to engage with them instead of having them arrested.

Now...don't get me wrong. I do not like APU's perspective on homosexuality. And I also do not think that they are always willing to truly have open and authentic dialog on the issue. But I do appreciate how they are willing to respond to a group that is in opposition to what they think.

Tell me...which school is doing a better job showing Christ's love?

Can you imagine Jesus asking the police to arrest someone that disagreed with him?

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