There is a deeply disturbing controversy at Wheaton College where Larycia Hawkins, an associate professor of political science at Wheaton College, has been suspended after she wore a hijab throughout Advent as an act of “solidarity with my Muslim sisters.” Hawkins is Christian but believed that her Christian Advent values called for her to extend his symbol of kindness and support to Muslims. On Facebook, she wrote “I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book.” That caused an outrage and her ultimately suspension.
Some viewed the statement as conflating Christian and Muslim faiths, even though Muslims regard Jesus as a prophet of God. Wheaton College would have none of it: “While Islam and Christianity are both monotheistic, we believe there are fundamental differences between the two faiths, including what they teach about God’s revelation to humanity, the nature of God, the path to salvation and the life of prayer.”
Hawkins was going to take off the Hijab at Christmas and said that it’s “a time of real vitriolic rhetoric by fellow Christians sometimes and people who aren’t Christian who conflate all Muslims with terrorist — and that saddens me — so this is a way of saying if all women wear the hijab we cannot discriminate. If all women were in solidarity, who is the real Muslim? How is TSA going to decide who they really suspect?”
The fact is that this is not a violation of the First Amendment because the college is not a state actor. It is a religious based institution that has a right to set its own rules based on that faith. I simply believe that the college is wrong and has taken a message of solidarity and replaced it with a message of intolerance. Moreover, the statement being attacked was made on social media by this academic. I have previously written about the increasing monitoring and discipline of teachers for conduct in their private lives. We have seen teachers face discipline over social media pictures holding a weapon. Even a picture of a teacher holding a glass of a drink is enough to trigger discipline.
Wheaton College stressed that Hawkins should have cleared any statements or actions in advance, raising concerns over the right to free speech for teachers. The college said “Wheaton College faculty and staff make a commitment to accept and model our institution’s faith foundations with integrity, compassion and theological clarity. As they participate in various causes, it is essential that faculty and staff engage in and speak about public issues in ways that faithfully represent the college’s evangelical Statement of Faith.”
Source: Chicago Tribune
bam bam,
I don’t fail to grasp that at all. What you may fail to grasp is we should be at war with ALL beliefs that actively seek to destroy our way of life. We’ve got radicalized Muslims doing their thing and we’ve the peaceful religion of progressivism and climate change destroying us as well. What ideology led our electorate to vote in a President that would enable Islamic extremism to flourish as it has? We are far more likely to destroy ourselves before any foreign entity does.
Olly
What you fail to grasp is that Christianity is not at war with Islam; Islam is at war–perpetual war–with Christianity and at war with every other faith on the planet. Those are the facts, like it or not, PC or not. Her solidarity, shown, at a Evangelical university, with those who seek to destroy Christians through murder, rape, beheadings, torture and forced conversion, should be prohibited. It is an affront to Christians, around the world, who are tortured, maimed, raped and killed for their Christian faith. I wholeheartedly applaud and commend the university for being unafraid to support its fellow Christians who are suffering around the world by their Muslim predators. Solidarity should be shown for the victims, not for the persecutors. When, more like IF, Muslims can ever join in with the brotherhood of man and cease their quest to murder or convert all who are different, then your comments will make sense.
We need to treat ALL beliefs like a loaded weapon. Constitutionally protect them and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who will use them to destroy our constitutional republic.
When Muslims, around the globe, begin to embrace those of all faiths–Christians, Jews, Hindus, etc.–and start to denounce and object to their religion’s mandate–MANDATE–of killing or converting all infidels, then this woman is welcome to show her solidarity to adherents of that faith in an Evangelical university. A show of solidarity? Give me an f’ing break. Solidarity with what? Christians are being persecuted, worldwide, for nothing more than for being Christians. Churches are being burned to the ground, women are being kidnapped and raped, people are beheaded, DAILY, and why? Because they are Christians. No more. No less. Just Christians. The MSM doesn’t report the daily atrocities being committed against Christians around the globe. The stories are buried on the last pages of the paper, if they are printed at all. Entire Christian communities, decimated. Christian communities that have existed since the time of Christ. Her purported show of solidarity, at an Evangelical university, would be akin to a Jewish student, at a Jewish university, wearing a Nazi uniform to show allegiance with all of humanity. Thank God for the Evangelicals. God continue to give them the strength to stand up against the evil that seeks to destroy humanity.
Is it unconstitutional to wear a hijab or for a Christian to speak of solidarity with others of a different faith? Is this woman espousing Sharia Law or Christian love? Doesn’t Terrorism win anyway if WE destroy the very freedoms we were founded on?
I wonder what would happen if we just reversed the facts, just a bit? Instead of making it a religious university, run by Evangelicals, let’s make it a religious university, run by fundamentalist Muslims. Yes. That’s right. One run by the mullahs. And now, let’s make this a party celebrating, oh, I don’t know, the end of Ramadan, shall we? If some Muslim professor–yes, one of their own–appeared, for example, dressed as a priest, stating that he was showing solidarity with his Christian brothers and sisters, who are slaughtered daily around the world by Muslims, how do you think that he would fare? First of all, it’s merely a fantasy, as it would never, ever occur, unless, of course, the Muslim professor had some sort of death wish; however, forget about losing his job, how about losing his freaking head? All you good libs would be blathering about his insensitivity to his fellow Muslims during one of their most revered events if you read a story like that, condemning him at every turn for instigating strife and friction. As I said, it is merely a fantasy. It would never occur. We simultaneously hold two contrasting views regarding acceptance, tolerance and love–one, which is elevated, which we expect and demand from Christians and Jews and one, which is a much more watered-down version, from Muslims.
I think the punishment is excessive. An entire semester suspension is half her pay for the academic year. Why not start with a letter of reprimand? Unless she has had prior infractions……
I think it is wrong headed but I think they are within their powers.
Rick – I stand corrected. Following the link to the Chicago Tribune article provides a more detailed and nuanced explanation of what happened. The college does state that the hijab isn’t the issue, it was the professor’s public pronouncements which contradicted their official teachings on faith which got her suspended.
I never knew they had such pretty professors at Wheaton. Whew!
Prof. Turley notes that it’s not a violation of the First Amendment to suspend this professor for lack of state- actor status. However, I wonder if it’s discriminatory under the Civil Rights Act of 1991 to embed in an employee’s contract a provision prohibiting her from her freedom of religious expression (if that’s what happened).
Proof here of “a disparate impact on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, and the respondent fails to demonstrate that such practice is required by business necessity” seems pretty clear.
Also, is her consensual waiver of such discrimination valid (if that’s what happened)?
It, apart from chilling the free flow of ideas at an educational institution, it also seems to me a form of political speech by the religious organization itself by barring expression which may oppose its political views. Perhaps its tax-exempt status should be scrutinized.
Atheists are the most obnoxious evangelical fundamentalists.
Worse than Scientologists.
How many centuries did it take and how many lives were sacrificed to drag Christianity out of the dark ages? We are not going to convert a billion Muslims to Christianity in our lifetime, if ever. Intolerance is antithetical to Christianity and our civil society’s great equalizer is supposed to be our constitution. All beliefs and that includes secular humanism are to be protected up to the point they infringe the natural rights of others. Our first duty as citizens in our civil society is to our constitutional rule of law our tolerance should extend to anyone or any belief that will honor our secular law first.
Your statement is only true because of acts done by other Muslims.
Oh great FSM, bless me with your noodley appendages and annoint me with your pasta sauce. I ask you to extend your loving pastaness upon those that believe in other gods besides you. Show them the light of your stripper factories and beer volcanoes so they too may enjoy the partying of heaven. Ramen.
Too much “my god is better than your god” in this world. The sooner everybody comes to their senses and admits that there is no god the sooner we can all get to work on being one people on this small planet. This silly move by Wheaton College does nothing to move us towards that goal. They are just reinforcing the “us versus them” mentality.
“Muslim women (who have to deal with a lot of hate, both inside and outside the home, BTW)”
False.
“people who aren’t Christian who conflate all Muslims with terrorist — and that saddens me”
“A Middle Eastern woman was caught surveilling a U.S. port of entry on the Mexican border holding a sketchbook with Arabic writing and drawings of the facility and its security system, federal law enforcement sources tell Judicial Watch.
The woman has been identified as 23-year-old Leila Abdelrazaq, according to a Customs and Border Patrol (CPB) report obtained by JW this week. Abdelrazaq appeared to have two accomplices, a 31-year-old man named Gabriel Schivone and a 28-year-old woman named Leslie Mcafee. CBP agents noticed the trio “observing the facilities” at the Port of Mariposa in Nogales, Arizona on December 2. Schivone was first noticed inside the entrance of the pedestrian area while the two women stood outside by the entry door, the CPB document states.“
My (hallucinated) creator entity exists and yours doesn’t…
TinEar
She was really just trying to make the statement that not everyone who wears a hijab is a terrorist. And she was trying to provoke thought and to encourage her students to examine their assumptions and prejudices, which is what a professor should do.
This is not why she was suspended. The article shows she was suspended for making public statements about religion that are contrary to the school’s religious teachings.
She wrote: And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God. She also cited “People of the Book” [a Quranic tenet] as a Christian doctrine.
I think it’s fine for a private religious institution to require employees to not publicly contradict their religious teachings. If you can’t live by that rule find a job at the 99.9% of American education institutions that don’t have it.
Jesus ate with despised peoples – prostitutes, tax collectors, etc. So this woman wears a hijab during Advent – a period of Christian contemplation – what’s the big deal? Would she have been suspended for eating lunch with an IRS agent? Or sharing a meal with a hooker? She’s just trying to reflect the teachings of Christ, in showing “kindness and support” to Muslim women (who have to deal with a lot of hate, both inside and outside the home, BTW). Maybe her act of compassion will soften the hearts of some Muslim women towards Christians….I don’t know….but c’mon people….what is so difficult about respecting someone who is trying to show a little kindness? Chill already!
“people who aren’t Christian who conflate all Muslims with terrorist — and that saddens me ”
If Muslims can go one month without killing people who disagree with them, then I’ll listen to you.
Jihad Report
November, 2015
Jihad Attacks: 169
Countries: 30
Allah Akbars: 34
Dead Bodies: 1455
Critically Injured: 1706