“It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you’re sincere,” is one of those sayings that, on its face, seems harmless but carries a hidden danger, as many recent incidents have demonstrated.

Belief alone, no matter how sincere, can be dangerous without context, or evidence. If faith can convince you to believe in absurdities, it can convince you to commit atrocities.

I came upon a recent story that illustrates a troubling trend. The evangelical Christians among us would force a different version of this saying on all aspects of life, most concerning being in academia.

These Christians would have the motto changed to, “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as it comes from the Bible.” This is now their desired philosophy for educational standards in the United States.

And they would add the demand, “…and cannot be challenged or questioned but must be respected by everyone.”

The story concerns Samantha Fulnecky (see link here),  a junior at Oklahoma State University who was assigned an essay on gender stereotypes for a psychology class.

Here’s the background on the story with links to the original assignment and the article upon which the essay was to be based.

The assignment called for students to write a clear and thoughtful 650-word response to a scholarly article about gender expectations in society. According to screenshots shared by Turning Point USA’s local chapter, Fulnecky wrote in her essay that the article irritated her and described how God created men and women differently. “Society pushing the lie that there are multiple genders and everyone should be whatever they want to be is demonic and severely harms American youth,” she wrote.

Mel Curth, a graduate teaching assistant, wrote as part of the grading process that she had deducted points because Fulnecky submitted a “paper that does not answer the questions for this assignment, contradicts itself, heavily uses personal ideology over empirical evidence in a scientific class, and is at times offensive,” according to the screenshots of her messages.

Megan Waldron, a second graduate student who teaches the course alongside Curth, agreed with the grade. “Everyone has different ways in which they see the world, but in an academic course such as this, you are being asked to support your ideas with empirical evidence and higher-level reasoning,” she wrote to Fulnecky, according to the screenshots.

(see link here)

Those of you who read the assignment understand that this wasn’t an endorsement of any particular agenda. It was a discussion about gender stereotypes in society. It was not a rallying cry for societal endorsement for transgenderism.

It would seem, in the conservative Christian view, boys play with trains and planes, girls play with dolls and have tea parties. Men are rugged and virile; women are caring and docile. Men go to work, women care for children. To quote Ms. Fulnecky, God created women with “womanly desires in our hearts…to be helpers.” She offers her faith that the way God intended it to be as stated in the Bible is evidence and settled. No discussion necessary. _{(Satire alert!, I have to post this because you’d be amazed at the number of people who miss it.)}

Now, had this been a Bible Study or a comparative religion class challenging these secular contentions, perhaps Ms. Fulnecky’s (or should I say Miss, in keeping with the dark ages philosophy) essay would have been acceptable.

This was a research assignment in an educational environment, with an expectation of academic standards, i.e., citations of sources, presenting evidence, and applicable documentation to support the position. The Bible does not meet the criteria of a peer-reviewed study.

Ms. (Miss) Fulnecky was free to argue her point of the sole existence of two genders and challenging, or concurring with, societal expectations as long as she submitted supporting evidence. She did not. She submitted biblical beliefs absent any proof. She wrote an op-ed when the assignment called for something entirely different.

The problem arose when she was challenged on her material. She did what all religious do and immediately complained she was being persecuted for her beliefs.

Nonsense.

None of the remarks on her paper suggested she abandon her faith; they simply pointed out that she had misunderstood, or more likely ignored, the simple instructions because she saw it as challenging her faith. FYI, that is what education is all about, challenging concepts and beliefs in pursuit of truth.

I would hope that, since she was in a Pre-med program, she would realize that, once she got to medical school, if she suggested prayer as a form of therapy or treatment in a medical school class on infectious diseases or fractured bones, she would be expected to present clinical evidence of its efficacy.

If she didn’t, and was given a poor grade because of this, it wouldn’t be persecution of her faith; it would be saving the lives of patients from ineffectual treatment. Emergency rooms may be the site of many prayers, but they are not part of any treatment protocols.

Want to know the best proof that prayer is an ineffectual form of treatment? If there were even the slightest clinical evidence of the efficacy of prayer, insurance companies would be telling their clients to pray rather seeking payment for medical care.

They might even consent to offer priest, minister, or rabbi services if needed depending on what plan you had. They’d have clever marketing slogans, We Pray so you Don’t Pay. Prayer it’s not just for Sports Teams Anymore. A Prayer a Day Keeps the Doctor Away. Pray and the Pain goes away.

Ms. Fulnecky is free to hold any belief she likes, but her belief is not evidence. However, if she argued her point, contending that it is, she must expect this contention to be challenged.

This story, which began as just a local disagreement between a student and a teacher, took on national prominence with the entrance of Ryan Walters, former Superintendent of the Oklahoma School System, famous for insisting on posting the Ten Commandments in schools and imposing other Christian doctrines on the academic environment.

He thankfully resigned and now works for the Teacher Freedom Alliance (https://www.teacherfreedomalliance.com/). This group opposes teachers’ unions and touts itself as dedicated to developing “Free, Moral, and Upright Americans.”

He also sought the assistance of Turning Point America, which published a post on X (racking up, according to them, 47 million views) claiming one of the instructors was transgender, as if that in and of itself were sufficient grounds to remove this individual from teaching.

Free, moral, and upright indeed. Let’s hope Mr. Ryan never becomes a CEO of a major medical insurance company or, in light of some of the other unusual Cabinet appointments, the Director of the CDC or HHS.

The case also led to two instructors being placed on leave and one being removed from teaching when the conservative-majority legislature threatened to cut funding for the school.

All because a student, so mesmerized by religious faith, chose to ignore the plain language of the assignment, offered her religious doctrine as evidence, then was surprised and “persecuted” when the instructor pointed out the lack of evidence, the failure to follow the instructions, and graded the paper appropriately.

No one demanded the student renounce her beliefs. No one burned her at the stake. No one excommunicated her from the school. No one made her wear a scarlet letter.

She got a poor grade because she deserved it.

She was certainly free to submit evidence to support her contention. She had access to the library’s academic literature on gender and to online sources. She chose to argue on religious grounds in an educational environment where challenging the validity of any contention is integral to the process.

It was never about seeking the truth when Walters and Turning Point got involved; it was about demanding their faith be accepted on face value and threatening those who would challenge it.

The faithful opposes the disease of curiosity and resist the squandering of ignorance. They do not seek acceptance, they seek unquestioning surrender to their form of faith and seek to eliminate others.

Any resistance is seen as persecution.

Nothing could be more dangerous to education than blind acceptance of any statement or contention. That is not teaching; it is indoctrination. Religions indoctrinate the young and try to suppress any questioning of the faith, usually by instilling fear of everlasting punishment in the afterlife.

Education teaches people to challenge and question everything. It encourages curiosity, provides skills to examine the factual basis of things, and teaches people to see the value of evidence and proof.

This is an anathema to religions.

I bet the language the organizations supporting Ms. Fulnecky find most offensive (or recognize as most problematic) was the “expectation of empirical evidence and higher-level reasoning,” knowing full well that it is an impossibility concerning religious doctrines.

One can be admired for holding sincere beliefs in their faith. The truly sincere realize some aspects of faith are not subject to academic inquiry. They accept this and do not demand this doctrine be accepted as anything else but a belief absent evidence. This country offers protection for engaging in such practices and protection from these practices being imposed on others.

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” – Matthew 6:6