In the world of Christian higher education, the big news is that a Wheaton College professor of English has resigned his position because he and his wife are divorcing. Professor Kent Gramm could discuss the circumstances of his divorce with Wheaton administrators for their judgment as to whether his divorce fits biblical parameters but has chosen not to do so.
Press coverage notes Gramm's personal dilemma and sense of grievance, naturally. We do not blame him for anything that he expresses. We simply acknowledge two points. One is that what is reported is much less than what is known by the parties involved, so outsiders should restrain themselves from making judgments. The other is that Christian institutions that take seriously the moral lives of their employees face the necessity of making inevitably imperfect decisions in formulating policies and applying them. The alternative to facing these difficulties is never adhering to behavioral standards, which for those who think that such behavior matters is the worse alternative.
In sum, we offer our sympathy to Prof. Gramm and to Wheaton. This is hard on everyone--no doubt harder on Prof. Gramm but no picnic for the people who were compelled to carry out Wheaton's policy.
We draw attention to the comments on the article that we have linked, as they likely come from members of the higher education community. In particular, we note those who equate religion with ignorance. We know of no definitive study of how widely such attitudes are expressed by folks in higher ed, but we certainly know that these comments fit a certain stereotype. More on that in the next post (above, for those who need reminding that blogs move backward in time from top to bottom).
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