Earlier this month, Baylor University announced that it had refused a grant worth over $600,000 to study the “inclusion” of the LGBTQ+ community in the church.
The Texas Baptist college had previously agreed to collaborate with the Baugh Foundation, a progressive Christian organization, on the “Courage from the Margins” project, which would conduct “research to equip congregations with evidence-based curriculum on inclusion and belonging for LGBTQIA+ individuals.”
A few days later, however, Baylor president Linda A. Livingstone retracted the university’s acceptance of the funds. In her official statement, she explained that while the university remains “committed to providing a loving and caring community for all — including our LGBTQIA+ students,” Baylor supports “the biblical understanding of human sexuality as a gift from God … between a man and a woman.”
Livingstone elaborated that the grant-related work included “perspectives on human sexuality that are inconsistent with Baylor’s institutional policies,” which confirm the ancient, fundamental Judeo-Christian belief that practicing homosexuality is “contrary to biblical teaching.”
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One Baylor student voiced her support of the university’s rescission of the grant, and said she thought it was “the right choice.” The decision “wasn’t meant to promote hate,” she told Minding the Campus, “but rather certifies a commitment to Baylor’s Christian tradition,” which means “adhering to [the university’s] statement on human sexuality and not falling into moral relativism.”
The Texas university may have stood its ground in this case, but its motives for doing so are suspect. Baylor has a history of following the progressive bandwagon, and, as the Baugh Foundation noted, “has solicited and accepted our funds for multiple projects, including this line of research, over many years.”
Just months ago, Minding the Campus editor Jared Gould wrote a scathing review of Baylor’s attempt at reparations, masked under Christian virtue: a campus memorial for formerly enslaved people.
“Baylor has embraced the racialized politics of the modern, progressive academy, harnessing Christianity to serve as a tool for ideological activism,” he wrote, adding that “Baylor can no longer tout itself as a devout Christian institution honoring its faith; it is merely a university appropriating the language of faith to justify a fundamentally secular agenda.”
As a result of its ignominious involvement with the progressive agenda, many Baylor affiliates wonder if this is a genuine shift in perspective or if big-pocket donors were behind the change of heart.
Another student who chose to remain anonymous expressed hope that the change was genuine. “As a student at Baylor, one of the main reasons why I chose the school was because of its strong commitment to Christian values,” she explained. “Baylor’s decision to stay true to its traditions and convictions reflects the expectations held by students and alumni who have chosen the school.”
[RELATED: Despite DEI Bans, Texas Keeps Funding DEI Activist Pipelines]
Fifty years ago, no one would have considered a university standing by its declared doctrine remarkable, much less newsworthy. More recently, though, American universities have become increasingly notorious for their liberal, ideological brainwashing, and this insidious wave of progressivism is not exclusive to secular institutions.
Eroded values are a real issue faced by evangelical Christian universities, and many find themselves between a rock and a hard place when it comes to standing by their professed doctrine. Allie B. Stuckey’s book, Toxic Empathy, describes why this might be.
Stuckey describes “toxic empathy” as the belief that we “must not only share [others’] feelings, but affirm their feelings and choices as valid, justified, and good.” Applying this to the LGBTQ+issue, she references Leviticus 18:22, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Timothy 1:10, and Romans 1:26–27—verses that, she notes, “prohibit homosexual relations and condemn them as inherently disordered.” Ultimately, she argues, “For the Christian, empathy should never compel us to affirm that which God calls sinful or to advocate for policies that are ineffective at best and deadly at worst.”
Progressive Christianity, as Stuckey describes, often twists scripture in order to accommodate others’ contradictory choices, or simply labels the expression of inconvenient biblical standards as “unloving.” In response to Baylor’s withdrawal from the project, the Baugh Foundation released a statement attributing Baylor’s rejection of the grant to a “campaign of fear and misinformation.” The organization further stated that they were “deeply saddened” and “disheartened” that Baylor “abandoned” research “rooted in compassion, community, and belonging.”
The emotionally conflated statement reflects Stuckey’s argument—and the choice faced by many Christian universities. To accept what traditional doctrine calls sinful for the sake of “empathy,” or remain committed to biblical values at the risk of being accused of wrong thinking and shamed.
The LGBTQ+ issue is not the only biblically contrary idea that’s found its way into purportedly religious institutions. Minding the Campus shared a College Fix report in March showing that 1 in 9 Christian universities have ties with Planned Parenthood, an affiliation that directly contradicts the Bible’s regard for the sanctity of life.
[RELATED: Texas State University Professor Told My Class ‘We’re Not Born With a Sex,’ It’s Assigned]
Take Wesleyan, a Methodist college in Georgia, for example, which encourages “pregnant people”—an asinine term—to “seek abortion care as soon as possible once you decide to terminate your pregnancy.” Even Catholic institutions, known for their—sometimes excessive—pro-life values, have been discovered advocating abortion. Saint Elizabeth University in New Jersey was found to be frequently referring students to local abortion vendors, rather than Pregnancy Help Centers.
Countless “Christian” universities have sold out their principles, acting in outright contempt of the biblical values they claim to embrace. While there are some standout examples like Hillsdale College, Oral Roberts, and Liberty University, if one were to assess solely based on institutional policy and campus culture, few would guess that over 1,000 higher education institutions in the U.S. were religiously aligned.
The windstorm of progressivism has so redefined Christian universities that religious affiliations like “Baptist” or “Catholic” no longer guarantee doctrinal integrity. Institutions like Baylor retain these labels while abandoning the values they once stood for, turning affiliation into little more than a hollow relic of the past.
Image: “Baylor University June 2016 19” by Michael Barera on Wikimedia Commons
