The Council of Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) today participated in the introduction of a Congressional Bill (H.R. 5331), entitled the “Fairness for All Act” (FFA). The CCCU has supported this legislative initiative from its inception three years ago. FFA presents an alternative to the Equality Act, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year, and proposes religious liberty exemptions for Christian institutions in exchange for the elevation of sexual orientation and gender identity to protected class status under federal civil rights law. The CCCU leadership established this course of political action a number of years ago, characterizing it as a strategy to protect religious liberty for Christian colleges and universities in the face of a growing political and societal willingness to infringe upon constitutionally protected religious exercise, including in the higher education arena. As a charter member of CCCU, Geneva College has been aware of this initiative, and as the bill has now been introduced, we are responding publicly as follows.
Geneva College does not endorse “Fairness for All.” Since its introduction to CCCU members several years ago, Geneva has understood that to endorse FFA would compromise our confession of Jesus Christ as Lord of all nations and our commitment to the truthfulness, fidelity, and authority of His Word, the Bible. As the direction and details of FFA have become clearer, many other CCCU member institutions have chosen not to advocate for or endorse FFA. Instead, we have continued to work on preservation and extension of our constitutionally-guaranteed religious liberty with the Alliance Defending Freedom’s (ADF) Center for Religious Schools. ADF has produced an analysis of FFA that clarifies the substantial problems with the initiative.
As Geneva works to advance our mission—pro Christo et Patria—in a challenging time of societal confusion and contention, we rely on core values, which begin “With Christ as King and under the Scriptures,” and which include pursuing godly wisdom and engaging culture faithfully. We are grateful that in such turbulent times, we have been granted a heritage that provides good ground on which to stand.