Different Religion, Different G_D

(I wrote the title that way out of respect to Jews)

A tenured professor (who's a Christian) at Wheaton College in Illinois was suspended without pay for wearing a hijab to school. The school administrators said she was not suspended for wearing a hijab but for saying we all worship the same G_D. 

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/wheaton-college-professor-put-leave-wearing-hijab-article-1.2467489

So is the administrative body at Wheaton College saying there is more than one G_D? Are they saying the G_D of Christianity is the only true G_D and all others are false G_Ds? 

If that Wheaton College is a private Evangelical Protestant Christian college, then I imagine they take John 14:6 quite seriously. 

She should never have been fired, but I imagine the answer to your second question is "yes".

Well, that is the mystery of the holy trinity, isn't it? Some of us believe Jesus is the son of God and therefore is God. Muslims understand him to be a great teacher of God. We worship the same God but I can understand how this can be confusing to evangelical Protestants.

They definitely seemed to have missed the spirit of the thing.  

But, anyway, of course Evangelicals believe that theirs is the one true God.  As do Muslims.  They are each monotheistic religions, as it says in the article you linked.

They're all nuts.

And colleges suspend tenured professors? Is this a new thing?

Colleges can suspend or fire a tenured professor for violations of their contract and/or school rules.  Tenure is not a blanket dispensation for any and all behaviours.

Similarly, tenured professors can be terminated for financial reasons, even if the university later hires someone to the same position (usually at lower pay).

These realities can come as a rude shock to academics who forget that colleges and universities are as much businesses as they are schools.  It helps to read the fine print in contracts and rule books.

You know, the more I read about this, the more evident it becomes that she probably should not be teaching at Wheaton.  I find their Statement of Faith to be outrageously rigid and narrow-minded, as I do with all religious statements of "fact" like this.  But they are completely up front about their belief, and I can see that a teacher saying that she believes that there are multiple and equal ways to worship God would get the College leaders damned upset.  And I am certain that she knew this 100%.  I am an advocate of civil disobedience, but doing it means that the activist must accept likely retribution for their disobedience.  

She probably would be better off finding somewhere more tolerant (and modern) to be teaching political science.

For what it's worth -

The declaration Nostra Aetate from Vatican II is remembered as a watershed in the Catholic Church's relationship with Judaism.  But the document also addresses the Church's relationship with other non-Christian religions.  Relevant to this discussion is the following -

"The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. ... Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting. Since in the course of centuries not a few quarrels and hostilities have arisen between Christians and Moslems, this sacred synod urges all to forget the past and to work sincerely for mutual understanding and to preserve as well as to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom."

I always value your well considered opinions, @mfpark.

My understanding was that Jews, Christians, and Muslims all worship the same God. They differ on the details (both major and minor) but have the same God. 

MrSuburbs said:

(I wrote the title that way out of respect to Jews)

Can you explain this futher? Is there a Jewish prohibition on writing his name? Asking an honest question here. I don't understand this opening statement  

mfpark said:

You know, the more I read about this, the more evident it becomes that she probably should not be teaching at Wheaton.  I find their Statement of Faith to be outrageously rigid and narrow-minded, as I do with all religious statements of "fact" like this.  But they are completely up front about their belief, and I can see that a teacher saying that she believes that there are multiple and equal ways to worship God would get the College leaders damned upset.  And I am certain that she knew this 100%.  I am an advocate of civil disobedience, but doing it means that the activist must accept likely retribution for their disobedience.  

She probably would be better off finding somewhere more tolerant (and modern) to be teaching political science.

To continue with this cynical view, she may have done it, in part, as a way of getting some publicity, in order to get a better job. College teaching jobs are difficult to come by (not adjunct), but she probably wanted to get the Hell out of there.  

Hahaha said:

MrSuburbs said:

(I wrote the title that way out of respect to Jews)

Can you explain this futher? Is there a Jewish prohibition on writing his name? Asking an honest question here. I don't understand this opening statement  

Yes.

Perhaps some views about this professor are overly cynical. Apparently it was shocking and extremely disturbing when their President Falwell suggested that everyone on campus arm themselves in response to the recent California terrorist attack. Students then protested, and this professor must have felt emotionally compelled to assert her own expression of support both for students and non violent Muslims, so that she would not be lumped with Falwell statements. She probably had not realized how completely wacky the school could get. I think she deserves credit for her courage in standing up and doing the right thing, even at the possible loss of her tenured position, which is not at all easy to secure.

To expand a bit on what Joan said:  

There is a Jewish prohibition on saying the name of God.  This is not a Torah-based commandment, but one based on very long usage likely dating back to the second temple period (450 bce to 70 ce).  There is a concept in Judaism of "building a fence around the law" by which specific laws are expanded to provide a margin of no error.  So from the specific, we go to a broader prohibition against writing the Name, and saying the general noun "god" (which is not the proper Name), to some who will not even write the word "god."   In most cases, there is very little support for this practice outside of custom, and pretty modern custom at that, among the most religious. 

Jasmo said:

Perhaps some views about this professor are overly cynical. Apparently it was shocking and extremely disturbing when their President Falwell suggested that everyone on campus arm themselves in response to the recent California terrorist attack. Students then protested, and this professor must have felt emotionally compelled to assert her own expression of support both for students and non violent Muslims, so that she would not be lumped with Falwell statements. She probably had not realized how completely wacky the school could get. I think she deserves credit for her courage in standing up and doing the right thing, even at the possible loss of her tenured position, which is not at all easy to secure.

max_weisenfeld said:

To expand a bit on what Joan said:  

There is a Jewish prohibition on saying the name of God.  This is not a Torah-based commandment, but one based on very long usage likely dating back to the second temple period (450 bce to 70 ce).  There is a concept in Judaism of "building a fence around the law" by which specific laws are expanded to provide a margin of no error.  So from the specific, we go to a broader prohibition against writing the Name, and saying the general noun "god" (which is not the proper Name), to some who will not even write the word "god."   In most cases, there is very little support for this practice outside of custom, and pretty modern custom at that, among the most religious. 

Max always is instructive on these things!

Another source for Jewish questions that I love to go to is Judaism 101, a wonderful resource written and maintained by an Orthodox Jewish woman.  But she is so subtle and wide ranging in her research, and so aware of her own potential slant on things, that the site is an incredibly rich and accessible resource for anyone interested in the Jewish faith and traditions.  Here is what she shares on the question of writing God's name in Jewish tradition.  Note also that Judaism has a whole lot of names for God in different contexts, which makes this an interesting part of the faith in general (I am particularly fond of the whole discussion around when Moses meets God in the burning bush and asks "what should I call you" and the answer is "I am what I am, I am what I will be, I will be what I will be"--it is literally untranslatable, yet understood).

http://www.jewfaq.org/name.htm

Writing the Name of God

Jews do not casually write any Name of God. This practice does not come from the commandment not to take the Lord's Name in vain, as many suppose. In Jewish thought, that commandment refers solely to oath-taking, and is a prohibition against swearing by God's Name falsely or frivolously (the word normally translated as "in vain" literally means "for falsehood").
Judaism does not prohibit writing the Name of God per se; it prohibits only erasing or defacing a Name of God. However, observant Jews avoid writing any Name of God casually because of the risk that the written Name might later be defaced, obliterated or destroyed accidentally or by one who does not know better.
The commandment not to erase or deface the name of God comes from Deut. 12:3. In that passage, the people are commanded that when they take over the promised land, they should destroy all things related to the idolatrous religions of that region, and should utterly destroy the names of the local deities. Immediately afterwards, we are commanded not to do the same to our God. From this, the rabbis inferred that we are commanded not to destroy any holy thing, and not to erase or deface a Name of God.
It is worth noting that this prohibition against erasing or defacing Names of God applies only to Names that are written in some kind of permanent form. Orthodox rabbis have held that writing on a computer is not a permanent form, thus it is not a violation to type God's Name into a computer and then backspace over it or cut and paste it, or copy and delete files with God's Name in them. However, once you print the document out, it becomes a permanent form. That is why observant Jews avoid writing a Name of God online: because there is a risk that someone else will print it out and deface it. See a 1998 discussion of the issue at The Sanctity of God's Name, Part 1: Erasing Sacred Texts from a Computer Screen if you're interested, but be aware that the lengthy article is thick with technical religious jargon, not always explained.
Normally, we avoid writing the Name by substituting letters or syllables, for example, writing "G-d" instead of "God." In addition, the number 15, which would ordinarily be written in Hebrew as Yod-Hei (10-5), is normally written as Teit-Vav (9-6), because Yod-Hei is a Name. See Hebrew Alphabet for more information about using letters as numerals.

I would only add to that explanation that, once the name of God is written, those who share these concerns then save documents containing the name for proper disposal.  Old prayerbooks that cannot be donated to a struggling congregation are eventually buried in Jewish cemeteries or retained in storerooms, sometimes along with other papers containing "the name".  

So, for those who adhere to this custom, storage space and effort are expended to maintain this "fence around the Torah".  It is simpler to keep the problem to a minimum by not writing the full name outside of religious texts.

As an aside, a recent MacArthur Foundation award went to a Princeton scholar who has spent her career analyzing the contents of the geniza (old document repository) of an ancient Cairo synagogue, which held a thousand years of retained papers, giving a fascinating glimpse into the medieval Middle East.

http://www.tabletmag.com/podcasts/194087/puzzle-master

the other Wheaton College didn't admit male students until like 1988.  Good year to be a male student at that Wheaton College.

Reminded me of this.

https://youtu.be/LkaH3hEmV3M

Thank you all for sharing the knowledge. 

Hahaha,

I gather your question was thoroughly answered   

Dave, thanks for the Bishop Spong reminder. He still has a lot to say and really makes you think.

spontaneous said:

My understanding was that Jews, Christians, and Muslims all worship the same God. They differ on the details (both major and minor) but have the same God. 

Indeed - all three are essentially the same in the beginning, but when Abraham is instructed to take his favored son to sacrifice to God, the Christian and Jews believe that son was Issac.  Muslims believe that son was Hagar's child Ishmael.  Hence the term "Children of The BooK"

MrSuburbs said:

Hahaha,

I gather your question was thoroughly answered  "> 

Yes. Why use Google when there's MOL?

For those who may not know, Spong was the controversial Episcopal bishop of Newark.