This post is a follow up to one I posted yesterday Will Harding University Face Up to it’s True Sexual Dysfunction?

If Dr. Burks gave me an audience to discuss how to change Harding University, here are the suggestions I’d make.

1.  Admit that Harding University Has Bought Into the Lies of the Culture. Harding’s mission statement say that it is committed to integration of faith, learning and living.  However I experienced other commitments.   Primarily, to a self preservation of a model of Christianity rooted in the Bible Belt of the 1950s.  Students were expected to fit into cookie cutter molds, get married and climb the ladder, and make enough money to give back to Harding.  Harding seemed more concerned with being a successful university that helping people become more like Christ.

2.  Focus less on maintaining Church of Christ traditions, and more on helping people live like Jesus.  So much energy was spent on having proper a cappella worship and keeping women off the stage.  What if that energy was redirected into innovative ways of teaching students how to actually do the stuff Jesus said to do?

3.  Create Opportunities for Students to Be Heard.  The HU Queer press is the result of ignoring the sexual realities of Harding for decades.  If Harding is going to continue to succeed as an institution, especially one in an era when a homemade blog can make national headlines, Harding must create public space for students voices to be heard.

Although my life and faith has changed drastically since I went to Harding, I know I would not be the person I am today had I not had those experiences.  My prayer is that the school will realize the dangerous culture they have, repent, and learn a new way of being a Christian Institution.

Last week my Alma Mater caused a stir.  Officially, the administration has responded gracefully and by the book.  But behind the specter of homosexuality lies a deeper set of problems that have led to this most recent explosion.

A Harding professor once told our class a story about the school’s strict “NO DANCING” policy.  A couple decided to get married over a break.  With a deep desire to honor their commitment to the school, they asked the administration’s permission to dance at their reception.  The request was denied.

So apparently, once you’re married, it’s okay to have sex, as long as you don’t dance.

I believe there is a mixed up sexual culture at Harding University.  In making these statements, I am only sharing my own reflections based on four years of participation.  Harding is where I met my dearest friends and learned much of what I practice today as a Christ-follower.  It is because of my gratitude for the good things that I write this, hoping the school can continue to contribute to the mission of God.

The HU Queer Press is a result of a dysfunctional system which fails to address the reality of mankind’s broken sinful nature, and Jesus’s command to make disciples.  The following is a short list of elements which contribute to the problem.

1.  Southern Hospitality.  When I moved from Denver, Colorado to Searcy, Arkansas I learned that the phrase “Bless Your Heart” actually means something much more sinister.  Buried deep within the Bible Belt, Harding has bought into a culture where no one truly speaks their mind and everyone pretends to be okay.

2.  Endless Pressure Toward Marriage.  For many people, you go to Harding to get married.  This is normal.  You’ve got a bunch of teenagers in a rural town with nothing to do.  It’s a green house.  But there’s also the constant stories from staff about how they met at Harding and special couples Bible Classes.  There’s the the campus swings (three swings and a ring!) and the ring ceremonies (ring by spring!), club functions (fifty minor dates!), etc.  It’s an obsession.

3.  An Underground Sexual Culture.  Now the air has been cleared about the underground homosexual culture.  But there is also an underground heterosexually dysfunctional culture.  The combination of the pressure to get married with the guilt associated with premarital sex creates an entire culture whose purpose was to push virginity to it’s limits.  Everybody participated in a little NCL, but who knows how many jumped into marriage out of sexual guilt?  Would it be going to far ask how many abortions took place to maintain the air of chastity?

4. “Church of Christ” Style Exclusivism and Legalism.  Some Churches of Christ are notorious for their lack of grace on certain “key issues” and an unofficial belief that everyone who disagrees is going to hell. The problem is, this means that if someone ever has any doubts or feelings of guilt, they have nowhere to address those realities.

These combined ingredients create a ticking time bomb.  The pressure toward marriage inadvertently creates a sinful backlash.  The legalism leaves no room for discussion.  The southern hospitality makes you pretend that everything’s okay.

The end result is a bunch of kids who end up living more sinful lives, feeling guilty about it and not knowing where to discuss it.  Harding has chosen to block the website, and Dr. Burks made a good case for why.  But the question remains, how can Harding deal with the real problems?

Tomorrow, I’ll share my thoughts on how Harding could address these dysfunctions and focus on the mission of God.