This spring, Cedarville University enacted new curriculum guidelines inspired by Philippians 4:8 and aimed at purifying coursework of erotic and graphic content.
Cedarville, a buttoned-up Baptist school with a 130-year Christian history, is not the kind of place where professors assign Fifty Shades of Grey or anything close. But administrators want to err on the side of caution. This means, for example, that now an R-rated movie like Schindler’s List cannot be shown in its entirety, nor can students put on plays that include swear words.
In its Biblically Consistent Curriculum policy, nicknamed for the Apostle Paul’s admonishment to Christians in Philippi, Cedarville has spelled out new guidelines officially barring any materials that “may be considered ‘adult’ in nature, that represent immorality, or that may be a stumbling block to students.”
The move comes as the Ohio school, located between Columbus and Dayton, unfolds a broader, campus-wide campaign to double-down on its biblical identity. At a time when fellow Christian colleges are looking to defy narrow evangelical stereotypes and compete with secular schools, Cedarville is instead deepening its conservative Christian distinctions.
I think this is becoming more and more necessary in light of an increasingly decadent American society. Just last night, for the first time in a long time, I turned on my TV and was flipping through the channels for something to watch. I came across the Disney channel, which I am guessing is geared towards pre-teens. Within the space of thirty seconds of turning it on there was a discussion between two girl characters that included an allusion to the male anatomy (“Johnny’s biceps are two of the three things I like best about him”) and references suggesting two other girls are in a lesbian relationship. Part of me said “typical,” and part of me said it’s sad it has now gotten to this even on “children’s” TV programs.
I rarely turn on the set to watch anything on American TV any more. I am at the point where I only watch Korean TV and some Japanese TV on the internet, because the programs are better done and more interesting. Japanese TV can get a little raunchy depending on what you are watching, but Korean TV is pretty much still all G-rated and much of it is very well done.