COLLEGES AND FEDERAL MONEY

Both the Baptists and the Adventists have impressed a lot of people by their habitual rejection of federal funds for their colleges. Only recently the Adventists in three states turned down a cool million federal dollars for their parochial schools with the statement: “That which the government supports it also has the right to direct.”

The Baptists have been doing the same. A Baptist college in South Carolina refused $611,000 even after the government had already committed itself. Mercer University in Georgia decided not even to borrow from the federal government. In annual conventions in many states the Baptists have passed resolutions to the effect that they will accept no federal money for their institutions, including even their hospitals.

It is not that Adventist and Baptist institutions do not need the money. It is admitted by the Baptist leaders that if some of their schools cannot get more money they may have to shut down or become private institutions. It is a matter of principle-“moral and theological integrity” as one Baptist leader put it. They believe in a separation of church and state. The United States government should not support Baptist institutions any more than Roman Catholic institutions. They also want to be free to run their own colleges, and they are convinced that it is always true that he who pays the piper is the one who calls the tune.

Church and State, a magazine dedicated to the separation of church and state, is greatly impressed by the integrity shown by the Baptists and Adventists, The editor commented as follows:

What if all other churches would do as these have done? What if they all told the United States Government to take the money and help some other poor folk? We believe that the churches would instantly regain a large measure of the popular respect and esteem which has been slipping away in recent years.

It would rather neatly demonstrate that the churches are interested in something else besides money.

We cannot be too hopeful that the scores of colleges among the Church of Christ-Christian Church will convince the editor of Church and State that they are interested in something beside money. Whether it be Bethany or TCD, Abilene or Pepperdine, Milligan or Lipscomb, large or small, rich or poor, they are all after federal dollars. I do not know of a single institution among us that has turned down the first government dollar, much less millions of them like the Baptists and Adventists have.

Maybe we do not believe in separation of church and state as strongly as the Baptists do, or maybe money is more important to us, or maybe we do not have as much “moral and theological integrity”. Anyway, we have to hand it to the Baptists and Adventists. That is really practicing what you preach when you can turn down millions of dollars! Most of the rest of us rationalize and find some way to have our creed and the money too. We believe in separation of church and state, all right, and we certainly do not want the government giving handouts to the Roman Catholic schools. But how about our parochial schools? We take every dime we can get our hands on, don’t we?

Our brethren all through the years have been less than enthusiastic toward the government and its institutions. Many of our people have been reluctant even to vote, and politics has not generally been regarded a high calling. Since the days of David Lipscomb many of our leaders have seen civil government as inherently evil, and we have had our share of conscientious objectors to war.

The leaders in our Christian colleges have been very critical of state universities, viewing them as pagan and infidelic, and insisting that parents should safeguard their children’s souls by sending them to church schools instead of state schools.

All this may be all right. But it does seem that if we have such a negative view toward civil government that we would be hesitant to accept federal funds for the support of our own schools. We can’t help but admire the stand taken by the Baptists and Adventists.