APA Petitions – A Sensible Alternative has Emerged!
2009 March 6
Finally, a sensible alternative to the petition and counter-petition has emerged. Mark Murphy, a philosopher at Georgetown University, has drafted a letter to the APA describing why censuring Christian universities is not warranted. Mark is soliciting feedback on the letter until March 31. I recommend you check out the letter here. Send him any feedback you have either pro or con. His email address is at the bottom of the letter.
Mark Murphy’s letter is a good read. But I do not see in it any reason for Christians (and other sensible persons) to refrain from signing the counter-petition. The reasoning in the letter seems to underwrite the counter-petitions complaints.
Troy…You ask a fair question. It might be that the letter underwrites most of the counter-petitions complaints, but the letter also goes beyond the counter-petition in important ways. First, the letter contains a section designed to “reach across the aisle.” That is, even if someone is convinced that a Christian university’s conduct policy is discriminatory, as 1359 people do the last time I looked at the original petition, then there is still reason to retain the APA’s current policy. As Murphy says, “the APA should not proceed against them either by banning them from JFP or by marking them as bigoted.” Second, the reasons in the counter-petition are pretty thin and easily contested. The counter-petition’s points are: orientation/act distinction, historical precedence, and doing a disservice to APA members and institutions. The only substantive point in the counter-petition is the orientation/act distinction, and this point has been hotly contested. Given this, it is easy for original petition signers to write off the counter-petition if they find the orientation/act distinction insufficient. Murphy’s letter is broader in scope and sharper in content, as it reflects his training as a philosopher of law. So, I think Murphy’s letter is more reasonable, sensible, and defeasible than the counter-petition. That being said, I still want to see more in the petitions and letters about the way forward for Christian universities. I think having that discussion brings out important underlying commitments on both sides.