Doctrinal Differences

I have been looking at postings for faculty jobs for my spouse, and occasionally, I wander over to the English section.  That's how I came to be applying for a job at a school that has deep doctrinal differences in terms of how we understand Christianity.

Longtime readers of my blog might say, "Wait.  Don't you already have one full-time job?  Don't you already have several side gigs too?"

Yes, but I'm always thinking about how we'll afford life if/when one of my current jobs ends.  And I'm looking for work that can be done from any location, and so, when I saw the posting for an online instructor, I clicked for more information.

I knew that I would have to agree to the Christian doctrines of the school, but the process didn't tell me what those doctrines were.  I was pretty sure that they would be the more conservative doctrines; institutions that adopt inclusivity practices rarely force their employees to take oaths to uphold that inclusivity as a condition of employment.

I clicked on the application and some of the information auto-filled.  Then it was on to the questions.  The first screen seemed like straight forward short answer/essay questions.  In fact, they were questions that I had answered before, in my seminary and candidacy process.  So I cut and pasted.

Then I got to the doctrinal questions, which were even more severe than I thought.  I expected to have to say that I believed in the authority of the Bible and those sorts of questions that hearken back to the questions of what is fundamental to the faith.  I knew that my beliefs about these fundamentals is very different from many Christians, particularly when it comes to issues of grace and atonement.

And then there were the questions of behavior:  homosexuality, pre-marital sex, drinking, dancing.  At this point, I knew I couldn't really go forward with the application.  But part of me wanted to hit "Submit" anyway, as a sociological experiment.

Or was it a writerly experiment?  I really wanted to see if my answers to the short essay questions would pass muster, like the one about my relationship to Jesus Christ, which I expanded to talk about the Trinity.  Would I make it to the next round? 

In the end, I didn't hit the "Submit" button.  I'm not going to work for a place that has moral qualms about dancing, not to mention all the types of sex that are outside of the marriage of one man to one woman.

Besides, I've already gotten affirmation of my answers to those short answer/essay questions--I've been accepted into seminary!