Illinois’ Wheaton College placed a tenured Christian professor on administrative leave after she donned a hijab in solidarity with Muslim-Americans facing scrutiny after recent terrorist attacks in Paris and California, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.
Political science professor Larycia Hawkins announced her intention to wear the traditional headscarf for the duration of the Christmas season on Facebook last week, saying Muslims “like me, a Christian, are people of the book.”
“We worship the same God,” she continued.
Hawkins’ explanation ruffled feathers among administrators at the private evangelical Christian college, who said that she was wrongfully conflating the two religions.
In a statement to the Tribune, Wheaton administrators said: “While Islam and Christianity are both monotheistic, we believe there are fundamental differences between the two faiths, including what they teach about God’s revelation to humanity, the nature of God, the path to salvation and the life of prayer.”
The college told the Tribune that Hawkins did not make her plan clear to administrators before she began wearing the hijab around campus. In a statement on the school’s website, officials said a full review of the “theological implications” of her statements would be required before her suspension was reconsidered.
Damn, we’re racking up a lot of families Trump has to take out. I bet this teacher’s parents are nice people, too. So sad to see them go…
good for this christian school! loving thy neighbor is exactly the kind of thing that pissed Jesus right the fuck off.
Rambo Jesus don’t like no Hib-Jabs!
He told me so while he was cleaning his Glock.
I’m from Illinois and we all know that Wheaton is an ultra-religious, right-leaning school. However, this is somewhat shocking to me. The professor isn’t recruiting students to change their religion - she just donned a legal garment to express solidarity with a group. Even Bernie Sanders was allowed to speak at Liberty University.
What does “tenure” mean in your religion?