Dori: King’s Schools have right to ask teachers to abide by biblical doctrine

I woke up to a Seattle Times story on Monday about King’s Schools in Shoreline titled, “Teachers quit in protest over what they consider anti-gay policy at Christian school in Shoreline.”

The story alleges that at least five teachers either chose to leave or felt like they were being forced to leave because of a message from the administration. It was sent out in a flier this summer and they interpreted it as requiring them to repudiate same-sex relationships in their professional and personal lives.

If this were a public school, I would completely understand that. But, it’s a private Christian school.

If you are a Christian, you believe the Bible is the inspired word of God. In the Bible, it states that marriage is between a man and a woman. If you completely disagree with that, then King’s absolutely is not for you. But it’s a private school. Your tax dollars are not supporting it. You can choose whether or not to send your kids there. King’s also says you should only have sexual relations within marriage. Does everybody live that? Probably not — but that does not mean that they still cannot hold that up as a biblical standard.

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When I spoke with Eric Rasmussen, the head of King’s Schools, he stated that one full-time teacher and two part-time teachers had given this as their reason for leaving.

“We respect that people might have a difference of opinion,” he said.

He said that the flier that went out to families over the summer was not meant to exclude anyone from the school, but just to remind everyone of the beliefs on which the school is founded.

“It was really to re-emphasize what we stood for for 70 years … By no means was it designed to separate us from any students being welcomed here,” he said. “Our admissions policies haven’t changed. We continue to love and welcome all kids who choose to come to King’s.”

There is a difference between not agreeing with someone’s position and not loving them, he said.

“We’re going to love all kids, welcome them, and we’re even trying to teach them how to have a civil, kind, grace-filled Christian discourse when they don’t agree with someone else,” he said.

What struck me was the raw hatred directed at King’s in the Times’ comments.

I know a bit about King’s Schools because one of our daughters went there for a couple of years. It was a great fit for her in the middle school years. She went back to the public school system for high school. But I got to know the King’s community during that time. I will tell you, I’ve never experienced a more loving group of people in my lifetime. I didn’t know anything about any LGBTQ policy there at the time — it never came up. We just loved the education they offered and the community they built.

So to see them the subject of such abject hate was very sad. The comments I saw were reprehensible.

It is really challenging to be a Christian in such a radically liberal area. It is the one group toward which it is OK to be openly hateful. This notion that a private Christian school can’t have teachers who are told they should teach and live by Christian principles is bizarre.

There is a demand by the Left for Groupthink. I know this better than anyone because it’s why I am the subject of such radical vitriol — I dare to not engage in Groupthink. My life would be a million times easier if I just went along with what everyone else around here thinks.

Of course a Christian school can have Christian principles. They can have teachers sign documents that mandate they teach and abide by Christian principles. If you don’t want to teach there, go work in the public schools. If you don’t want your kids there, don’t send them there. But there are about 1,300 kids for whom King’s Schools have worked wonderfully, lovingly well.

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