Edinburgh University and the “Discriminatory” Bible

Edinburgh University and the “Discriminatory” Bible

R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
October 24, 2005

The University of Edinburgh now plans to ban the Bible — from distribution in the dorms at least.  As The Times [London] reports:

Edinburgh University is set to ban Bibles from its student halls of residence amid concern that the Holy Book is “discriminatory” and makes students of other faiths feel unwelcome.

The move is the result of protests from the students’ association and is being considered in an effort to pursue a policy of “evenly supporting all faiths”, a university spokesman said yesterday.

A Gideon Bible is traditionally placed in every new student’s room at the start of the academic year and there are currently around 2,000 Bibles in the Pollock Halls campus on the edge of Holyrood Park.

Their distribution is now seen as inappropriate and potentially offensive to non-Christians. The student body is drawn from 120 countries and represents a broad spectrum of faiths, it is argued.

So the Bible is “potentially offensive” to non-Christians? Why only potentially? The illogic of the university’s position is clear: They really mean to say that the Bible is offensive to non-Christians who actually read it.

Get this: Ruth Cameron, president of the Edinburgh University Students’ Association, said yesterday that it was important that students from different cultures were made to feel welcome. “The student association strongly believes in the importance of ensuring that students of all faiths feel at home in their university accommodation,” she said.

“We simply don’t want to be seen promoting one religion over another. This is not about attacking Christianity. It is about respecting diversity.”

It’s about respectiing diversity? This is the nonsense of the monoculture. In the name of diversity, strip the public square of anything that represents particularity. Then, when no references to God remain, celebrate this fact as evidence of your commitment to diversity.

Ms. Cameron doesn’t want the university “to be seen promoting one religion over another.” That’s going to be pretty hard to accomplish at Edinburgh. Getting rid of Gideon Bibles in the dormitories won’t be enough. What about all those awkward references to Christianity that abound in the city and around the university? The statue of John Knox in front of New College will have to go. Of course, getting rid of Knox will please the feminists along with the secularists. The monstrous regiment will exact its revenge.

The most insipid statement about the whole matter came from a University spokesman: “The student body is made up of diverse faith backgrounds which are evenly supported by the University Chaplaincy which pursues a policy of supporting all faiths and none.” How openminded and diverse! The University Chaplaincy supports all faiths “evenly” and supports no faith as much as any faith.

Scotland needs a new Reformation — and fast.



R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

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