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Thanks, John, for taking up the topic and carrying forward. I share your concern for the future of higher education (humanities, esp.) and Christian higher education.

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Jul 1, 2022Liked by John Hawthorne

This is a fine piece John, thank you. I was unaware of about 75% of the above. At my institution this issue has not (to my knowledge) cropped up. I suspect that in the years to come every Christian institution will have to deal with this controversy, which worries me a bit.

I would hope that what makes a Christian institution distinctively Christian is simply a commitment to the values of Jesus and to daily live them out in the university setting. This would mean that the main theme on campus would be genuine Christ-like love, followed by service to one another rooted in that love. There would be respect and tolerance for varying opinions as well. Open dialog would be fine, and varying opinions respected.

At Christian institutions in the coming years, we will likely see in students an increase in the acceptance of non-traditional lifestyles—just watching the evening news seems to make this clear. I would imagine most Christian institutions are busy thinking this through. (I am thankful I am way down the ranks!)

Thanks again for educating me. God bless.

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An update: the student government at SPU has ended their sit-in and are moving forward with their plans to sue the Board of Trustees. https://religionnews.com/2022/07/02/with-sit-in-over-at-seattle-pacific-university-students-now-plan-to-sue-trustees-over-lgbtq-exclusion/

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