Writing for NPR, Camila Domonoski has reported the following:

“A professor at an evangelical Christian college who was suspended for saying Christians and Muslims worship the same God will no longer be teaching at the school.

“As we’ve reported, Larycia Hawkins, an associate professor of political science who had tenure at Wheaton College in Illinois, was suspended from her job in December.  She was put on paid administrative leave after vowing to wear a hijab for Advent in solidarity with Muslims—not because of the headscarf, but because of a Facebook post about her decision where she wrote about the relationship between Islam and Christianity and said, “as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.”

“Wheaton administrators said they were concerned that post contradicted the school’s statement of faith.

“Hawkins faced the possibility of being terminated from her job. But before her scheduled hearing, she and the school announced they had agreed to part ways—and wish the best for one another.

“In an interview with NPR’s Michel Martin last month, Hawkins stood by her statement, saying, first of all, it was primarily an expression of solidarity—not an attempt to challenge any theology. . . .

“(As NPR’s Tom Gjelten reported in December, the Catholic Church and most mainstream Muslims agree that Christians and Muslims share the same God. But evangelicals are divided on the question.) . . .”

It would send a strong message if another institution were to offer Professor Hawkins a position. Too many academic careers are being derailed by these sorts of issues, and even in cases in which the faculty members have received substantial financial settlements, their careers have been seriously disrupted, if not ruined.

There have been more than enough of those kinds of hollow victories.

Camila Domonoske’s complete article is available at: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/02/07/465916095/professor-who-said-christians-muslims-share-a-god-is-leaving-christian-college.