Christian College Faculty and Staff and Rainbow Stickers
Increasingly throughout all levels of education, faculty, staff and administrators are posting "safe zone" stickers on their office or classroom doors, certifying these space as places of acceptance for those who identify themselves somewhere within or around the ever-expanding “rainbow” of options represented by the constantly lengthening LGBTQIA+++ acronyms. There are various sources for this initiative, such as the Gay Alliance and the Human Rights Campaign’s Establishing An Allies/Safe Zone Program.
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Student “gay and allies” representatives often approach faculty and staff, specifically requesting that they place these stickers on their doors, so they will feel “safe” and welcome visiting their offices. To say that this puts these faculty and staff “on the spot” is an understatement. The choice appears to be “cruel intolerant bigot who does not care about you” or “sure I would be happy to prominently display this sticker.” (I am trying to imagine what the response would be if, say, Catholic students wanted atheist, Muslim, Protestant, or Jewish professors to put crucifixes on their doors so they would feel “safe.” But I digress.)
The Safe Zone Project claims to represent “over 25,000 educators in 100 countries.” If I was to guess, that would be a conservative estimate. I visited a large public high school in Maryland last year where most of the faculty homerooms that I saw displayed these stickers, plus often even more prominent pro-LGBT displays. It was not hard to see that the few faculty who resisted joining in must have felt a great deal of interpersonal pressure. Maybe not, but “tolerance for the allegedly intolerant” has not characterized the left-ward side of the culture wars for many years.
To see these stickers appearing on office doors in places like public schools, secular colleges and universities, nominally religious or theologically liberal institutions of higher education, and so on is hardly surprising. But sadly, these “safe zone” stickers are increasingly popping up on the doors of faculty and staff offices at evangelical or conservative Catholic colleges and universities, even where the historical stances of these institutions have always clearly affirmed the Biblical teaching that all sex is to take place within marriage, that the latter is to be between one man and one woman only, that God made humans male and female, and so on.
Certainly, all Christians should agree that we must treat all humans with respect and kindness, with meekness and humility, whether or not people agree with us, or whether or not they have embraced, or are considering, a lifestyle and identity that orthodox Christian believers believe to be sinful. Being judgmental, cruel, or demeaning to anyone is wrong. Period. We, all of us, stand before Christ as the chief of sinners, at our best still in desperate need of the grace and mercy of God.
So what could be wrong with a professing Christian faculty or staff member with orthodox beliefs about sex and gender identity declaring his or her office to be a "safe zone" for LGBT persons, a place where they can discuss their trials, joys, questions, and challenges with someone who truly cares about them and is committed to relating to them as Christians should? For sure, the offices of every Christian faculty and staff member should be “safe” in these respects. But a rainbow sticker to prove you are a loving and caring person? Not so fast.
There appear to be two broad sets of faculty and staff in ostensibly conservative Christian religious colleges that choose to publicize their offices as LGBT “safe zones,” often using these stickers. Each one really requires a different response.
One set of faculty and staff has decided that “gay (or trans, etc.) is ok” for a professing believer. To them, living out a homosexual, bisexual, transgender, or other sexually alternative lifestyle is perfectly compatible with being a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. Their office is “safe” because here, the LGBTQIA+++ student can be affirmed in their non-heterosexual, “non-binary” orientation and identity. To say that these faculty and staff need to be directly challenged is an understatement. To deny that some faculty who believe this are employed, either openly or hidden, in many professedly conservative evangelical or Catholic colleges is foolish. They are there.
The other set holds to an orthodox Christian understanding of marriage, sexuality, male and female. They hope that designating their offices as “safe zones” will open up opportunities for ministry and conversation. Their office is “safe” because here the LGBT student can be assured of civility, compassion, true listening, honest conversation, while being led away from identity and action that violates God’s design and will. Those considering a wrong path can be redirected, those who have embraced such a direction already can be urged to repent. They think that adding the rainbow sticker makes this clear. This one is a little more difficult, and I have never doubted the sincerity and good intentions of such actors. Yet it seems to me that, even here, posting rainbow stickers designating their offices as LGBTQIA+++ “safe zones” is misguided. (There may be rare exceptions I have not encountered.)
I will address this further in my next blog post. Interested? Check in about 10 days.
