Recently, Wheaton College Professor Dr. Larycia Hawkins gained national attention when she was placed on administrative leave by Provost Stan Jones. It has been reported that Dr. Hawkins troubles began when she decided to wear a hijab, a garment associated with religious Muslim women, to show her solidarity with Muslim women, a class of persons whom she felt were being marginalized and ridiculed within American society, in particularly because of recent terrorist attacks within the United States, said to have been inspired by ISIS.
Dr. Hawkins explained her actions in her Facebook POST as follows:
“I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.”
She further stated:
"As part of my Advent Worship, I will wear the hijab to work at Wheaton College, to play in Chi-town, in the airport and on the airplane to my home state that initiated one of the first anti-Sharia laws (read: unconstitutional and Islamophobic), and at church."
In her recent press conference on this issue, (see video at the end of this article) she stated:
"Our love for Jesus compels us to make no peace with oppression because Christianity is political or it is not Christianity. That drove my solidarity with women in the hijab, particularly Muslims in the hijab—because you know, Jesus’ mother Mary wore a hijab too."
She went on to state:
"Throughout my years of service at Wheaton College, I have never waivered from my commitment to the Christian doctrines elucidated in the Statement of Faith."
Distinguishing & Differentiating Issues
I would be the first to say that I do not know anything about Dr. Hawkins employment
agreement with Wheaton College or about any reason or right that her employer may have had to monitor Dr. Hawkins' Facebook account. While I would support Dr. Hawkins' right to free speech and to privacy, I must point out that it also seems appropriate that Dr. Hawkins, if she has agreed to a statement of faith, or to certain Christian centered doctrines and teachings, that she be faithful to those teachings even in her private life. This is especially important as she is not only a representative of the college, but more importantly of Christ.
The media has focused its attention on the Dr.'s freedom and right of expression. However, the primary issue, as I have examined this case and the statements, are clearly her assertion that Muslims (who she sought to encourage) and Christians, worship "the same God". To be fair, Dr. Hawkins was not asserting these ideas independently. Her statements echo those of Pope Francis' who also recently affirmed that both Christians and Muslims worship "the same God".
The issues seem to have been convoluted or intertwined, until the person casually associated with religious doctrines and tenets of faith, assume that the only issue is the wearing of the hijab. In fact in Dr. Hawkins' statement and press conference, this is the primary and initial point of focus. Her theological assertion is downplayed, but I believe that her theological position is the primary, if not the only issue at hand, as you will see in this post.
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