Openly gay freshman Isaiah Thomas has discovered Messiah College in Grantham, Pa., is not quite a good fit.
According to PennLive, the student has been through hell at the Christian College — from having his wallet, room key and student ID stolen just a month after school started to having a professor call him “an abomination” in class, to receiving a death threat on his Facebook page.
John C. Whitehead, The Patriot-NewsIsaiah Thomas
Isaiah has decided to transfer at the end of the semester.
The Christian College requires all students to sign a “Community Covenant” which forbids homosexual behavior, according to school provost Randy Bassinger. He also claimed the school had a very strict harassment policy and has investigated the claims from Isaiah, but they refuse to release the results of any of those findings.
What we find most interesting about Isaiah though is not that he was harassed and is leaving, but he actively worked to change the school’s policies.
He is the secretary of the multicultural council, a member of the black student union and by invitation, vice president of the Middle Eastern Student Association. And when Isaiah learned about the Covenant, he actively worked for more inclusion, but each teacher he spoke to defended the covenant.
“Our covenant is quite clear on the behavioral expectations in a number of areas, one of them being homosexual behavior,” Bassinger said. “We’re very committed to that and very intentional on how we apply that — consistently, as with all our behavioral expectations.”
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then don’t go to a christian school. problem solved.
Aren’t Christians supposed to live all? Hypocrisy reigns supreme in that religion as of late..
Love one another…
People should be able to believe what they want to, go/attend any place they want to without being ashamed,hiding or harassed for who they are.
Agreed amanda
Not very Christian or Christ-like of them, but in reality…..why did he choose a Christian school?
Like some of the prior commentors, I too find it SICKENING that some Christians are such ugly, cruel HYPOCRITES. Whatever happened to “judge not, lest you be judged”?? Even the pariahs of Jesus’ time, such as prostitutes and lepers, he did not kick to the curb as everyone else did. I’m not even Christian but I have a lot of admiration for Jesus and his (original) teachings. He was a kind, tolerant man. Too bad his teachings have now been severely WARPED by people who supposedly follow him. :( I really would like to ask those people, WTF is wrong with you??
I agree with Kyle: why the hell go where you KNOW they’re going to act like knuckle-dragging barbarians? And @Amanda: the people who run the school DO believe what they want to. That’s the problem with “faith.” It never has to be logical, to be justified. As long as no critical thinking, evidence, or logic has to be applied to faith, no argument matters. I think the guy should get the hell out of there before he’s killed in Jesus’ name.
i dont think its right, but its common sense. thats like a black person going to a buisiness ran by skinheads. like no.
What did he expect, going to a christian college
He signed the covenant, didn’t he
To everyone asking why he chose that school: Maybe he went to a Christian school because, uh, he’s a christian? You can be gay and religious. It’s totally not against the rules. For serious.
My personal opinions about religion aside, that’s still horse shit.
I’m a Messiah alumnus myself, and although the story doesn’t surprise me, it pisses me off beyond belief. I know the type of person that would harass Isaiah — those were the people I refused to associate myself with.
People that are quick to dismiss Messiah College would be surprised to hear this, but there are a great many students and professors at Messiah that DO actually live the love that they preach and accept others regardless of their sexual orientation. Unfortunately, the loud voices are those of a handful of professors that are truly bigoted and the stupid homeschool kids that think that rated R movies will send you to hell. It makes me sick.
What a load of crap. Accoriding to my beliefs (Me being Christian) – everyone is a sinner. What right do fellow Christians have in condemning a fellow Christian based upon his sexual orientation? If the bible has taught me anything, and we go based off the new testament – It’s a sin to judge him, or anyone, for that matter. To judge is to place us in the position of god – a blasphemy.
Isaaih Thomas – keep at it, don’t let anyone ever bring you down. Any “Christian” willing to do those terrible things to you isn’t really a man or woman of God. They are merely sheep who follow hate.
why the hell do ppl think religion is shit??? like seriously o.O
I used to play in the orchestra at a fundamentalist college (I was a community member looking for performance opportunities) and the contract that students had to sign there included an interdiction on masturbation, along with a request that if a student caught another “in the act,” then they should report them! This story sickens me, but does not surprise me, since if you can’t even indulge in sexual behavior by yourself, homosexual behavior must be MUCH farther down the spectrum of iniquity. (Tongue inserted firmly in cheek).
@Joshua…love the comment