Karen Pence is a believing Christian woman. She took a part-time job at a private Christian school. And this, believe it or not, is a scandal. Don’t believe me? Her job has already merited not just one, but two critical Washington Post stories. There’s the obligatory CNN report, accompanied by a piece of commentary that argues the school is “like a real-life setting for ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’”
Sounds terrible. Has she joined a fringe Christian cult? Have the Branch Davidians descended on Northern Virginia? Are teachers kept in a form of sex slavery to produce children for the principal? Let’s let the New York Times set the lurid scene:
Karen Pence, the second lady of the United States, returned to teaching art this week, accepting a part-time position at a private Christian school that does not allow gay students and requires employees to affirm that marriage should only be between a man and a woman.
Hmm, something doesn’t seem right. I’ve been involved in Christian education for much of my life. I attended a Christian college, my oldest kids attended a dozen consecutive years of Christian schooling, I served a term as chairman of their school’s board, and I’ve represented Christian institutions for more than two decades, and I’ve never once seen a Christian institution declare that no gays are allowed.
Instead, many thousands of Christian schools have statements of faith and codes of conduct that require teachers and sometimes students and parents to agree with the school’s theological doctrine and comply with a code of conduct. They don’t say, “No gays allowed.” They say, “Here is what we believe, and here is how you must behave.”
Read the rest at: Karen Pence
