While schools like the University of Michigan are actually paying for the installation of Muslim footbaths, Christians on other campuses are being persecuted for following Jesus’ example of washing the feet of others. At Savannah State University, a student group called Commissioned II Love was expelled last year as an official organization for “practices that are not unlike [that] of a cult.”
The action came after other students complained that the group’s off-campus foot-washing and baptism ceremonies were akin to “hazing.” Commissioned’s members have since sued, and the group’s case seems to be resonating in court, since a federal judge refused the University’s request to dismiss the suit.
Obviously, school officials seem to realize that their defense doesn’’t have a legal leg, or foot in this case, to stand on. Not only is Savannah State oppressing religious expression, but the students’ activities—which were entirely harmless and undisruptive—weren’t even held on campus grounds.
When schools financially accommodate the Islamic faith, it’s considered “tolerance.” Yet when Christians use their own resources to observe a Christian tradition off school grounds, it’s called “hazing.”
Tony Perkins is the executive director of the Family Research Council (FRC). This article is excerpted from the Washington Report that he compiles for the FRC.
