The Nation takes-up the intellectual dishonesty of sectarian schools, an old bugaboo hereabouts.
When it comes to academic content, it’s hard to argue that a college that makes faculty adhere to Christian fundamentalist tenets, or that refuses to let its students engage with pro-choice speakers even when they’re talking on another subject, is providing an intellectual toolbox for the modern world. Wheaton College in Illinois (not to be confused with secular Wheaton College in Massachusetts) suspended Larycia Hawkins, an associate professor of political science who donned a hijab in solidarity with harassed Muslims, for writing on her Facebook page that Christians and Muslims “worship the same god.” Well, as theology it’s debatable, but that’s the point: Debate has no place at Wheaton, which requires faculty to sign a faith statement declaring their belief in the literal Adam in Genesis. (Don’t laugh—in 2011, John Schneider, a professor of theology at Calvin College, was forced into retirement after publishing an article that questioned the story of Adam and Eve.) When Darwinism — the foundation of modern biology — cannot be taught, what kind of an education are students getting?