I was the very part-time chaplain at Albright College – a United Methodist Church related college – from 1994 to 1999. Sometime around 1997, during a staff meeting, we had a discussion about a proposed student art exhibit. One of the artists wanted to assemble an outdoor show that included a number of pieces with Swastikas embedded in them. The wonderful Dean of Students was appalled by this but also wanted to respect the right of freedom of expression. Being a lover of the Constitution, I pulled out my paper copy and showed the group that the right to free speech is guaranteed by the government and not by religious institution. In fact, for better or worse, religion can have, as part of its doctrine and practice, rules that are not accepting of equality. You can choose to refuse ordination to women, for example, and get away with it. A religious organization cannot, however, especially if it accepts federal funding, discriminate when accepting students into its schools. It is a sticky relationship, this religion and state thing.
I spoke up and said that we, as a private, church affiliated college, needed to say no to Nazis. And the KKK. And terrorist organizations. Students and faculty can hold membership in these kinds of organizations, but they cannot permit those ideologies to permeate the institution or cause injury to others. They can support Palestinians and advocate for an end to the violence, but they cannot support Hamas, because Hamas is a terrorist organization that wants to kill all Jews. Why can’t we allow this? Simple – if I am a Christian, or part of a Christian organization, I cannot support things that are anti-thetical to the teachings of Jesus. Period. Now, we have a lot of disagreement over some of those things, but I doubt that any actual Christian believes that Jesus would support Hamas. Or Nazis. Or the KKK. It is a sticky relationship, this religion and state thing.
What is happening on campuses now is similar. Private organizations need to support free speech – unless it calls for violence or infringes on people’s rights. Churches need to support the right of religions other than theirs to exist – unless those religions call for violence. You can hate others in the privacy of your home or within the walls of your religious community, but the moment you hang a sign outside that calls for violence or allow one group to oppress another, you have gone beyond freedom – you are supporting tyranny. We can disagree on the issues, but we can’t allow one group to control or injure another, couching it in cries of freedom. Your freedom ends where mine begins. Just say no to Nazis.
Prayer – Holy God, may our outward lives mirror Your hopes for us. Amen.