Chapters at *Conservative* Religious Schools?

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by bu1904

There is a religious requirement for faculty but not for students. Belmont is actually a fairly liberal school school despite what most people think.

NOPE. If a school discriminates based on religion in its hiring practices, it is not "liberal."

[naraht]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

NOPE. If a school discriminates based on religion in its hiring practices, it is not "liberal."

Yup.
From the current Faculty Handbook...

2.5.1.4. Faculty Selection and Religious Preference
Belmont University may discriminate on religious grounds in its employment practices in order to
fulfill its mission. The Board of Trustees re-affirmed this policy during its April 1999 meeting, stating
that the university can best fulfill its vision and mission statements when the faculty is composed of
persons who confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and whose lives reflect this confession by, among other
things, evidencing an active involvement in a local church that is committed to this belief.

But it doesn't meet the *Conservative* characteristics that I posted at the beginning of the thread (just Conservative rather than *Conservative*, I guess)

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

NOPE. If a school discriminates based on religion in its hiring practices, it is not "liberal."

I wouldn't quite say that. It is possible—both for individuals and institutions—to be liberal as to some things, conservative as to others, and somewhere in between on still others. I'm not saying Belmont is or isn't liberal—I know next to nothing about Belmont—but I'd never say a conservative (but legally permissible) stance on one issue defines an institution over all. Belmont may not be bastion of liberalism, but despite a more conservative view on wanting religious faculty, it could still be "fairly liberal" overall, which was the claim.

[maconmagnolia]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I wouldn't quite say that. It is possible—both for individuals and institutions—to be liberal as to some things, conservative as to others, and somewhere in between on still others. I'm not saying Belmont is or isn't liberal—I know next to nothing about Belmont—but I'd never say a conservative (but legally permissible) stance on one issue defines an institution over all. Belmont may not be bastion of liberalism, but despite a more conservative view on wanting religious faculty, it could still be "fairly liberal" overall, which was the claim.

I agree. Maybe the poster meant that the student body is fairly liberal?

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I wouldn't quite say that. It is possible—both for individuals and institutions—to be liberal as to some things, conservative as to others, and somewhere in between on still others. I'm not saying Belmont is or isn't liberal—I know next to nothing about Belmont—but I'd never say a conservative (but legally permissible) stance on one issue defines an institution over all. Belmont may not be bastion of liberalism, but despite a more conservative view on wanting religious faculty, it could still be "fairly liberal" overall, which was the claim.

I don't view it as just wanting religious faculty, I view it as isolating their students from opposing viewpoints.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

I don't view it as just wanting religious faculty, I view it as isolating their students from opposing viewpoints.

I get that. I just tend to think lots of things can go into the mix.

But then, I have issues with the labels "conservative" and "liberal" anyway.

[bu1904]

I feel like everyone is hung up on two words at the end of a sentence. There was a question being asked about religious schools with a list of examples and Belmont was mentioned. My goal was to say that none of those examples fit the school.

I said liberal because the title of the thread stated conservative. In my eyes, liberal is the opposite of conservative, so the objective of my statement was to point out that the school is a bit more in the opposite direction than other religious schools. By saying fairly liberal, I'm not saying Belmont is this " crazy liberal", "hippie", "super-open minded" or what every other label you want to put on it, type of school. My point is Belmont is not as "conservative" as people perceive it. Being that Belmont is a Christian school one should expect there to be some rules that reflect religious views, but the ones that were stated above do not apply.

[MysticCat]

Thanks, bu1904. That's what I thought you were saying.