Gordon College is a small Christian school in Wenham that has long frowned on same-sex relationships and other behavior it considers inconsistent with Biblical scripture. That led college president Michael Lindsay to write to President Obama, requesting “a religious exemption” from a planned policy banning federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.
Soon after, the City of Salem told the college it could no longer manage Old Town Hall, where the school holds theatrical productions, saying the college violates its non-discrimination ordinance.
But in an open message to the Gordon community, Lindsay said he was standing up for religious freedom. Sending the letter, he wrote, “was in keeping with our decades-old conviction that, as an explicitly Christian institution, Gordon should set the conduct expectations for members of our community. Nothing has changed in our position.”
We invited Lindsay or another representative from Gordon College to join us, but they declined.
Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll came on set to explain how she arrived at the decision to cut ties with Gordon College.
Is Gordon College within its rights to request a religious exemption? Tell us in the comments.
