CIU Will Not Compromise

CIU Will Not Compromise

CIU Provost Dr. Jim Lanpher

The humanitarian ministry World Vision caused a great stir among biblical Christians when its president announced the ministry’s American branch would no longer require employees to restrict their sexual activity to marriage between one man and one woman. World Vision has since returned to its original biblical policy on marriage. But Columbia International University Provost Dr. Jim Lanpher calls the debate over sexual ethics and marriage “disturbing societal trends.”

In an article titled, “CIU Meeting the Challenges of ‘Disruption’ in Higher Education” to be published in the upcoming spring edition of CIU’s “Connection” magazine, Lanpher lists various dynamics being faced by colleges today, including societal trends:

We also see disturbing societal trends, especially in the areas of sexual ethics and marriage. Our society no longer recognizes that the only valid marriage is between a man and a woman and the word “marriage” now needs an adjective before it to describe what type is under discussion. The confusion about marriage comes from our society’s inclination to normalize all sexual relationships as long as they involve consenting adults. This is the ideology now promoted in our public schools, in our courts, by (most of) our political leaders, by the media, in secular higher education and even in some “Christian” churches and schools. Those who hold this ideology do not just seek to advance it; they also seek to delegitimize any opposition to it as bigoted and hateful. Of course, CIU will not compromise on moral issues, but this is the environment out of which our students will be coming to us in the years to come.

Read Dr. Lanpher’s article in its entirety in the spring edition of “Connection” magazine which will be posted online in early April. Watch for it and read other CIU publications at: http://www.ciu.edu/publications.