The seemingly benign diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda contains philosophical beliefs that are at odds with the teachings of Christianity. Nevertheless, many Christian colleges put the DEI agenda at the forefront of their educational efforts, relegating religion to a distant second or third place.

In today’s Martin Center article, John Mac Ghlionn explores this phenomenon.

“DEI doesn’t enter Christian universities under its own name,” he writes:

It arrives cloaked in theological robes. Administrators recognize that a direct appeal to progressive ideology would likely repulse donors, parents, or alumni who expect adherence to the faith. So they borrow the language of Catholic Social Teaching (CST), invoking “human dignity,” “solidarity,” and “the common good.” At Notre Dame, for example, diversity offices and initiatives are consistently cast as seamless extensions of CST. The suggestion is unmistakable: To resist DEI is to resist Catholic tradition itself.

That’s a typical ploy of the progressives — to disguise their views as something most people will accept.

At both Catholic and Protestant schools, DEI has entrenched itself, Ghlionn observes:

The choice before Christian universities could not be starker. They can return to their true mission: forming students in truth, virtue, and faith. Or they can continue playing linguistic games, shuffling vocabulary while entrenching ideologies that undermine their foundation. They cannot do both. The longer they attempt it, the clearer it becomes that their loyalties lie not with Christ but with the cultural fashions of the age.