White Christians and ethnic Catholic the most underrepresented Americans at Harvard

Harvard and these other “elite” institutions gave themselves over to rebellious cultural environments and worldviews that openly despise and reject Jesus Christ decades ago. Instead of bemoaning the lack of white Christians at those institutions, we need to ask whether Christians of any race should go to these institutions in the first place. After all, why do people want to attend these “elite institutions” in the first place? Money, power and privilege. Those are things that Christians are not supposed to be seeking in the first place, and if it means putting up with a hedonistic environment that purposefully promotes an anti-Christian worldview, even more so. Also, Pat Buchanan is a Roman Catholic and a politician. His interests are that of the Vatican first and his politics second. He does not represent the cause of Jesus Christ in any way, shape or form. Even the issues that Buchanan is right on get distorted because of the context that Buchanan views and presents them in, which for Buchanan incidentally includes the fact that he is a longtime avowed and unrepentant segregationist and an anti-Semite. He merely doesn’t voice those views openly anymore because he would lose his access to the mainstream - and the power, privilege and money that comes with it - and would be relegated to publications like American Renaissance that represent his actual views.

Buchanan wants “white people like him” to get into Harvard so that they can continue to have influence in the circle of elites that for all intents and purposes controls the world’s superpower. That is his agenda, it is the Vatican’s agenda, but it is not a Christian agenda. In my opinion, a Christian agenda would be getting more blacks, Asians, Hispanics, foreign students, and Pat Buchanan’s “blue collar whites” into Bob Jones University, Reformed Theological Seminary, Westminster Theological Seminary and similar.

I know a number of godly men and women who attended elite schools - not for power, money, or prestige. One couple met at Yale. They were faithful believers during their undergrad years. One completed a JD at the very good, but not great, law school I attended; the other attended an elite business school. They currently live oversees, faithfully serving in their church, raising two children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, showing hospitality and generosity to those around them, clearly proclaiming the gospel with their words and reflecting it by their actions. Their powerful, prestigious, lucrative jobs? He works for a non-profit development bank focusing on delivering power to parts of central asia. She works to oppose the child sex trade in southeast asia. Their next move up the ladder? They want to move to central asia to work on these same issues much more closely to the unreached people groups there.

I’m sure this thumbnail sketch doesn’t provide enough information for others to reach the conclusion I have after years of observing their faithfulness, but I do not know anyone more faithfully using their God-given abilities for His glory.

I expect that a lot of people, probably including some believers, go to these schools for worldly reasons. But, the brother and sister I describe above, and many others I know or have known demonstrate that there is a place for believers in these schools at least as long as there is a place for a gospel witness there.

Jim And Jack:

I went to a secular school for my undergraduate education, and am currently enrolled in a secular school now for retraining. (However, I should point out that neither school can in any context be classified as “elite”, but quite the contrary. Both my undergraduate college and my current school were more concerned with preparing people for the job market and strengthening writing, reading, mathematics and speaking skills than promoting Marxism, environmentalism, homosexual rights etc.) And yes, I know of plenty of Christians who did go to elite schools and are using what they learned there for the Lord. So, I spoke poorly when I made blanket statements.

However, that does not change the fact that what was posted was an article by Pat Buchanan. Pat Buchanan’s agenda is not Sharper Iron’s agenda. Pat Buchanan’s reasons for wanting “white Christians” to attend Ivy League schools are precisely what I said: power, prestige and privilege. That was what segregationists were trying to hold onto, and Buchanan is a segregationist. Also, Buchanan is a Roman Catholic who represents the Vatican, and the Vatican is all about power, prestige and privilege. You can’t separate the message from the messenger, so Buchanan’s agenda in getting “his kind of people” into Ivy League schools is not the same as the Bible’s agenda.

And beyond that, I still say that getting Christians into elite colleges is not a Christian agenda. If it is, make the case for how getting more Christians into Harvard advances the cause of Jesus Christ in general as opposed to advancing the interests of individual Christians. It isn’t about being able to make a living, because you don’t need to be able to go to Harvard to make a living. It isn’t about ministry opportunities, because you don’t need to go to Stanford or Cornell to find those. By contrast, it is far easier to make the case that getting more Christians into colleges that offer a Christian-based education is a Christian agenda, especially if you are getting groups of Christians who aren’t benefiting from such educations. If we have populations of Christians where virtually all of them attend public or liberal schools, and the pastors of their churches attend liberal seminaries … well it is a lot easier to make the case that doing something about that is Christian agenda.

Do not get me wrong. I just felt it necessary to mention that what Pat Buchanan was promoting is not only un-Christian, but anti-Christian. It is harmful deception. I honestly believe that Buchanan’s opinions and motivations in that article (and in general) either violate scripture, or result in attitudes (i.e. resentment) that violate scripture. If it were Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton or Jeremiah Wright claiming that we need more blacks on Wall Street, in Hollywood or in the State Department, I would have responded the same way.

My response was only intended to interact with the blanket statements you backed off from a bit. I definitely don’t support Buchanan’s approach or conclusions.

I agree with you that getting Christians into elite schools is not a Christian agenda, but disagree that getting Christians into Christian schools is a Christian agenda. I pretty much see loving and obeying God as the only Scripturally defined Christian agenda.

I don’t mean to set elite schools apart as a special place that Christians are needed. I believe Christians are needed to share the gospel in all sorts of secular institutions and workplaces. But I do know a number of people who were converted as students at Harvard, Princeton, Duke, etc. In every case I can think of, the gospel was delivered by a fellow student. If I read you correctly, you do not see these as the mission fields that I believe them to be. Please correct me if I misunderstand.

Maybe I just see this differently because an overwhelming majority of my fellow church members never attended a Christian school.

Well, it appears that I spoke unwisely and untruthfully. Christians have civil rights just like everyone else, and if Princeton is discriminating against white Christian students, then these students have as much right to “appeal to Caesar” as Paul did. And I do agree that Christian witness is needed everywhere, or should I say everywhere that God leads the Christian. So I recant my statement “the only reason for going to elite schools is power, money and privilege” as there are certainly perfectly legitimate reasons for attending them, and that was wrong. And yes, advocating ONLY going to Christian schools is akin to self-seclusion that isn’t Biblical. So, you were 100% correct in responding to the errors in my statements. In opposing Buchanan’s erroneous statements, I made several of my own.

I wasn’t trying to take you to task, just trying to figure out exactly where we disagreed. Looks like there wasn’t much disagreement under everything after all.

I appreciate your gracious spirit in this exchange.