President Conn affirms 'no condemnation, no compromise' stance on homosexuality
(Photo by Peri McIntosh)
In a changing world, Lee University faces mounting challenges to its traditional stance on homosexuality and gay marriage.
The university's first public brush with the divisive issue occurred in 2006, when a group of gay Christian activists visited the campus as a part of Equality Ride; a bus tour meant to echo the cause of the Freedom Riders of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.
It was during this time that Lee established its 'no condemnation, no compromise' response to social activism that supports homosexual unions within the church and American culture as whole.
Conn revisited the university's stance on homosexuality in a faculty meeting on Sept. 16 of this year, and said he stands by the mantra that Lee adopted during the Equality Ride visit nine years ago.
'What we mean by [no condemnation, no compromise] is that we have a traditional position that same-sex relationships do not please God, and that marriage that is ordained by God is between one man and one woman,' Conn said. 'The 'no compromise' part of that slogan [means] we aren't going to compromise our position ' the 'no condemnation' part of it mean[s] that we're also not going to demonize people who are dealing with this issue. [These are] sons and daughters of God.'
Many students on Lee's campus echo the views communicated by Conn and Lee administrative faculty.
Senior theology major Dylan Evans said that Lee's 'no condemnation, no compromise' policy is an amazing representation of the response that Christians must have in order to lovingly defend biblical sexual morality.
'As Christians, in order to remain faithful to the Holy Scriptures, we must maintain a difficult balance in regards to homosexuality,' Evans said. 'On one hand, we must welcome those who deal with same-sex attraction and provide a safe place for such persons to discuss and process their struggles. ' However, today we must be explicitly clear with our teaching on homosexual activity.'
Others feel that the reality of putting the policy into practice is more challenging than the slogan may suggest.
'The policy further institutionalizes non-discussion,' senior political science major Paul Stallings said. 'You cannot be open to discussion or dissent when students and faculty are discouraged from openly identifying as gay. When people cannot embody their positions, discourse becomes nearly impossible.'
During the meeting, Conn recounted that before Equality Ride members visited Lee they were arrested for trespassing on both Regent University and Liberty University's campuses. The demonstrators were prepared to display similar acts of civil disobedience if they met resistance at Lee, which the group named as an 'epicenter of intolerance and oppression.'
'It was a lot of drama and a lot of presidents saying 'no you can't come on our sacred campus' and they hauled them off, locked them up ' and then turned them out,' Conn said. 'In my opinion, all Christians do when they act that way is act in an unchristian fashion. I don't see where Jesus Christ demonized and vilified and heaped scorn on people, and I don't want Lee to be that kind of place.'
Instead of turning the activists away or calling for their removal by local authorities, Conn welcomed the Equality Riders to discuss their views with on-campus Lee students in informal settings.
Conn said that the event sparked his resolve to maintain a posture of grace and hospitality on Lee's campus in the face of divisive cultural issues.
'We are a welcoming campus,' Conn said. 'We are hospitable. We're going to have to navigate this terrain with integrity, with love, and with care for our students.'
Though administration and faculty have been called to meet on this issue several times in recent years, Conn has yet to address students on the subject in a Chapel service or other organized meeting.
'I think that some questions are so sensitive and so potentially divisive that only the president can give the family permission to talk about it, and I need to do that,' Conn said. 'And I'm trying to do that ' when am I going to sit in front of the students and make this speech? We need to talk about this in Chapel.'
Lee's nondiscrimination policy does not include 'sexual orientation' as a protected group, but Conn says that homophobia will not be tolerated on Lee's campus.
'Our attitude [is] if there [is] incivility, slurs, threats, abuse, public scorn or physical [abuse], our response as an institution would be clear and immediate: you can't treat people that way,' Conn said. 'We would protect the student who is the object of that abuse. We're not going to allow homophobic incivility on our campus.'
Conn also said that Lee does not discriminate based on student identity during the admission process or enrollment at the school. Students are held accountable, however, for behavior that exists outside of the community covenant, which prohibits homosexual behavior and sexual activity outside of marriage.
'We don't say students who are gay are not allowed,' Conn said. 'Certainly we don't say students who aren't sure whether they're gay or not aren't allowed ' we say [instead] that inappropriate sexual behavior is not allowed.'
Evans said though he is supportive of Lee's dedication to traditional marriage, he is unsure of how the university will weather changing cultural tides.
'With the increasingly liberal, authority-defying culture that we live in, I honestly worry about Lee's ability to maintain a stance against homosexuality,' Evans said. 'The pressure to conform to shifting cultural norms will only become more and more severe. Lee staff, and especially administration, must be thoroughly educated on this issue and how it has crept into the church.'
Stallings believes that because of the institution's connection to the Church of God, Lee's stance on homosexuality will remain grounded in a traditional context.
'I do not think that this policy will change in the near future,' Stallings said. 'The university relies on the doctrine and tradition of the Church of God as a guide. In so far as Lee remains tied to the Church of God, its opinions regarding same-sex relationships are unlikely to change in any meaningful ways, regardless of the personal opinions of faculty and leadership.'
Conn stated that even though Lee is owned by and affiliated with the Church of God, the university is not 'expected to mirror [the denomination's] views.'
'I believe that a church-affiliated university like ours is a community of intelligent women and men who are committed to the basic principles of that church, which to me are the lordship of Christ and the tenants of scripture and that's it ' but then we're a group of intelligent women and men, who from that faith commitment, have the responsibility to explore within that faith commitment what that means specifically,' Conn said.
Conn says though he values a religious university's responsibility to 'provide intellectual leadership for its denomination' through discussion, debate and differing views, Lee's stance on homosexuality is not an arguable issue.
'I consider our definition of marriage to be an established doctrine at Lee University, and I don't [believe] a faculty member [could] appropriately advocate a contrary view,' Conn said. 'So to that degree, freedom of expression is not absolute on this campus, as it isn't on many other issues. I believe in free, broad-ranging discussion on a large number of matters, but ' this is our position and that position hasn't changed.'
Ultimately, Conn said he hopes that Lee can foster genuine, intellectual discussion about homosexuality and similarly sensitive issues on campus.
'These are the two prongs of our institutional posture ' we have to make this a safe place for students to express themselves on a whole range of attitudes,' Conn said. 'We can't marginalize people as bigots and haters if they have a very determined view against same-sex relationships, and we can't marginalize or vilify people as perverts and hedonists if they are expressing alternative approaches. This is a college, for heaven's sake.'
