Not very neighborly

In a stunning turn of events, a private Christian school made a sexist decision.

The San Diego Christian College fired Financial Aid Specialist Teri James after she revealed she was pregnant. Because of a binding “community covenant” she signed when she was hired that asked her not to engage in premarital sex, the school considered itself justified in terminating her employment.

Normally, even I can understand this. If she signed a contract and later violated it, facing discipline or termination is reasonable. I might raise my eyebrow at the clause in question, as premarital sex seems like a pretty normal thing nowadays, but again: I’d see it as a breach of contract.

Of course, all defense of this school flew right out the window when administrators turned around and offered James’ now-vacant position to her then-fiance.

That’s right. They fired James for engaging in premarital sex, and then they offered her job to the father of her child. Presumably, James’ fiance had been having some premarital sex himself.

Naturally, James’ fiance turned down the position, and James elected to sue the school for discrimination. Its attempt to offer the position to her fiance is sufficient evidence that her employment was terminated on the basis of her gender and marital status rather than any breach of contract.

The simplified version is this: Premarital sex is bad only if ladies have it and you can tell they had it.

An argument could be made that the school would have offered the position to her fiance on the condition that he didn’t engage in any more premarital sex and that the sex that got James pregnant occurred before he’d have signed the covenant. However, the evidence that he had premarital sex would be clear to anybody who looked into the proposed birth date of his child and the date of his marriage.

Really, it’s just sexism.

This isn’t the first story about a Christian school getting in hot water over a sexist decision—it isn’t likely to be the last. Christianity is inherently a sexist institution that literally has discrimination against women written into its holy text.

Think about it. Catholics spent centuries hunting and executing intelligent, freethinking women. The Bible blames a woman for humanity becoming lesser in God’s eyes. Scripture says women who have sex outside of marriage are worthless. Unless, of course, they’re raped—and then they’re worth 20 silvers and are sold to the man who raped them.

Women can’t have real power in most Christian churches. In Catholicism, there have been Vatican decrees that the ordaining of female priests is an offense on par with pedophilia. In Christian wedding ceremonies, the woman is asked to submit to and obey her husband, and if she tries to have a career or do something besides stay home and have children, she is traditionally seen as abandoning her duty and failing her family.

It’s no surprise that a Christian college is upholding these long-held traditions. After all, the next generation of women needs to learn its place.

These women need to learn that their sexuality should be suppressed or they risk losing their livelihood.

They need to learn that men can do no wrong; even when they sin the same exact way women do, they are faultless.

They need to learn that their church—the one that says to “love thy neighbor” and to forgive people their sins—is perfectly justified in abandoning them if they slip up, even once.

Really, maybe this school could teach women a valuable lesson after all: If you’re a woman and your faith demonizes you for it, maybe you should consider getting the hell out of that church.

After all, as James’ case has shown, many Christians can forgive a man the sins for which a woman is condemned.

If that’s not your definition of sexism, I suggest you invest in a new dictionary.