Christian College Blues

President Bush will be speaking at the commencement of Calvin College, a small Christian college in Michigan. Even at a Christian school you've got the peacenik crowd that just can't stand the idea of a GOP President speaking at their school:

"I'm definitely worried about a Christian school being affiliated with the Christian right," said Elise Elzinga, a 22-year-old Lambertville resident who will graduate Saturday with a degree in political science and international relations.

Elzinga sometimes has felt isolated during her years at Calvin because of her views. She volunteered for Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign last year. In a poll before the 2004 elections, 80 percent of Calvin's student body said they planned to vote for Bush.

Poor baby. Imagine the terror of having a Christian college associated with the Christian right. Would she rather have the college associate with the Christian left? Oh wait, there is no Christian left.

Of course there are some faculty members with their knickers in a knot as well:

David Crump, a professor of religion at the college for the past eight years, said even though he's not scheduled to get tenure until this summer, he felt he had to speak out (HolyCoast - another good argument against tenure).

"The largest part of our concern is the way in which our religious discourse in this country has largely been co-opted by the religious right and their wholesale endorsement of this administration," he said.

Now I wonder why the religious discourse in this country is dominated by the religious right? Oh yeah, the religious left has better things to do like saving the environment and stopping the wascally Wepublicans from ending judicial filibusters.

Thankfully there are a few sane voices at Calvin:

In the letter, President Gaylen Byker said it is an honor for Calvin to be chosen as one of only two sites where Bush will speak to graduates. The other is the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.

"It provides an opportunity for Calvin to communicate its distinctiveness to a broad audience," he wrote. "Please know that accepting this request from the White House does not identify Calvin as an institution that is necessarily aligned with the person or the politics of the president."

Nick Monsma, a junior at Calvin, will return to the college Saturday to volunteer at the commencement ceremonies. He views the president's visit as a historic opportunity for Calvin.

"It will be a neat opportunity to get close to a sitting president," the 21-year-old Hudsonville native said.

He said he's disappointed that students, faculty and alumni are protesting the visit.

"There's a certain forum for that kind of discussion and I don't think this is the right forum."

Somehow I don't think the President will run into too many bad attitudes at the Naval Academy.