Shorter University is requiring its more than 200 employees to sign a “Personal Lifestyle Statement” rejecting homosexuality.
Don Dowless, president of the Christian university in Rome, said anyone not signing the statement, which also requires staffers to reject premarital sex and adultery, faces termination.
“I think that anybody who adheres to a lifestyle that is outside of what the biblical mandate is and of what the board has passed, including the president, would not be allowed to continue here,” Dowless told Channel 2 Action News.
One person described as a longtime employee told GA Voice, a publication covering issues affecting the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, that the new policy has some staffers fearful that a disgruntled co-worker could accuse another as being gay out of spite.
A student who didn’t want to be identified told Channel 2 that the university is judging others, contrary to what the Bible teaches.
New employees will have to sign the statement and existing employees will have to sign it to renew their contracts.
“Failure to adhere to this statement may result in disciplinary action against me, up to and including immediate termination,” the statement says.
Students, however, are not required to sign the policy.
The Personal Lifestyle Statement was one of several approved by the Board of Trustees on Oct. 21 and presented to the campus on Oct. 26. The others include a “Policy for Christian Education,” “Biblical Principles on the Integration of Faith and Learning” and a “Statement of Faith.”
By signing the Personal Lifestyle Statement, employees agree to reject as acceptable “all sexual activity not in agreement with the Bible, including, but no limited to premarital sex, adultery and homosexuality."
They also agree to be loyal to the mission of Shorter as a Christ-centered school affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention; to not use, sell, possess or produce illegal drugs; and to not drink alcoholic beverages in the presence of students or promote the use of alcohol.
”Anything outside that is not biblical, we do not accept," Dowless told Channel 2. He told another publication, The Christian Post, "“We have a right to hire only Christians."
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