Today’s Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the president of (the Christian) Eastern University is being criticized by a group of almost 800 alumni because of his signature on a letter to President Obama requesting a religious exemption from a recent executive order.
That order forbids federal contractors “from discriminating in hiring on the basis of sexual orientation, with no exemption for religious groups.” The College Fix’s Greg Piper reported yesterday on the effects of the president’s order.
The Inquirer notes:
Robert Duffett, president of the Christian university in St. Davids, says Eastern does not discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender students or employees. He signed the petition, he says, because the school supports the separation of church and state.
“This means no government has the right to determine theological views and practices of religious institutions,” Duffett wrote in an e-mail to alumni, employees, and students who objected to his signature.
Ryan Paetzold, a 2007 Eastern graduate and director of the alumni group OneEastern, said nearly 800 people had signed a letter to Duffett asking him to withdraw his signature.
“We were really shocked by this,” Paetzold said.
He questioned Duffett’s argument about the separation of church and state.
“We’re confused,” he said. “We don’t believe the right to discriminate has any bearing on that.”
Paetzold went on to take issue with Duffett’s claim that Eastern does not discriminate, citing a section in the faculty handbook about termination due to “moral turpitude.” “Homosexual conduct” is listed as an example of such.
Duffett counters that “heterosexual sex outside of marriage” is also listed, so there’s no discrimination. “We’re trying to be evenhanded on that,” he noted.
Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter
IMAGE: Ian Britton/Flickr
Please join the conversation about our stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, MeWe, Rumble, Gab, Minds and Gettr.