Oink-of-the-Day Award

I read in the Asheville Citizen Times this morning that Asheville Christian Academy, here in the valley, voted last night to maintain its "men-only" rule for board membership. Okay.

The school was formed in 1972 as a merger between two schools, one with a uni-gendered governing board, the other with an inclusive board. The issue of changing the rule has come up before and been defeated. Conservative, literal-minded Christians prevail once again.

There are some fine folks at the school, and several kids we know through Scouts and other settings attend. So I don't disparage them. And I don't disparage the conservative mind-set. What I can't believe is that there is seemingly no way to reconcile valid if short-sighted Biblical interpretation with real-world expectations.

And then there's this. Quoting the CT, "proponents (of maintaining the single gendered board) also said that a nurturing temperament would keep women from making tough decisions and that men are more comfortable speaking to other men." One, these folks have obviously never met my wife, nor my mom, nor my boss. And two, well anytime you care to crawl out of the locker-room and join polite society, feel ever so free, fellas.

The vote was 148 for keeping things as they are and 103 in favor of a change. The school is governed by a board which meets monthly, and which is in turn controlled by a corporation of 250 members. It's not clear from the CT article who is on the corporation, but one assumes it includes parents, faculty and staff, along with some local religious leaders.

There is talk of some families removing themselves from the school. One wonders where they will land. Then I realized that most progressives simply work within the public school system or place their kids in non-religious private schools and take their lumps. I wonder what a progressive, expansive-minded, Christian, private school would look like. If I had some spare change I might be interested in an educational experiment.

Again, nothing against the good folks at the school. But come on; isn't there some way to move forward rather than remain mired in literalism? The valley is a study in conservatism: the Presbyterian Church in America (women may not teach men in the church school) is strong; the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (limits on women as pastors) caught a foothold with the realignment of the Montreat Presbyterian congregation. We've got Montreat College on one end of the spectrum and Warren-Wilson College (both historically Presbyterian-related schools) on the other .

Of course, I can hear loud and clear the howls of conservatives who believe that firmness, and single-ness of Biblical interpretation and living out of doctrine is the only way. All I can say is that rather than falling at the feet of doctrine and worshiping a book, I'll stick to adoring Jesus, and trying to emulate him.