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[couleur]

I'm a faculty member at a small public college in a large urban area, and I was surprised to hear that a candidate for an important student-services dean position is also a lead preacher in a very fundamentalist and homophobic Christian sect. What are the legalities of objecting to a candidate because of the candidate's religious work? 
And secondly, does it make sense to hire a religious zealot/fundamentalist to a student-services position?  It strikes me as a serious error.  Am I just being narrow-minded?

[concordancia]

What are the legalities of objecting to a candidate because of the candidate's religious work? 

I do not believe there are any, when you phrase it like that.

[obprof]

Are you on the hiring committee? Do you know someone who is?

Is there someone from HR on the committee?

A lot of hiring committees for these kinds of positions (e.g., working closely with students) would have an interview question along the lines of "tell me about your experience working with <insert marginalized group here>".

The answer can tell you a lot.

[couleur]

I'm not on the hiring committee. 
This candidate is one of the final three.  The three will make presentations to students, faculty, and staff.  That gives another opportunity to ask questions, but can you trust candidates NOT to lie?  The "stealth" candidates who took over school boards always kept their religious extremism under wraps if they felt it was prudent to do so, and this candidate is probably intelligent enough to do so.
There's already a big enough problem on this public institution campus with first year students talking about their faith in Jesus a bit too much in their compositions.  We don't need a dean who will subtly endorse their religiosity.
I've passed the information (regarding the candidate's fundamentalist standing and preaching) along to the president of the college.
I haven't given the information to H.R.  Should I?
The hiring committee was a half-baked committee, as some of these committees so often are.

[writingprof]

What if I were to post that a candidate's dual-citizenship in a "fundamentalist and homophobic" Muslim country gave me pause?   I'd be crucified, and rightly so!  People's affiliations are significant, but they're much more complex than your assumptions suggest.

Has the potential employee made homophobic remarks, or must we assume that he or she possesses those beliefs because of the church affiliation?  I find that beliefs on the topic of homosexuality vary widely even within conservative denominations; for that reason, it might not be wise (or ethical, if I may be frank) to attend a job talk with the predetermined opinion that the candidate's gestures of rationality and tolerarance are, in fact, a scheme designed to fool you. 

Furthermore, I think we can assert with confidence that this candidate's "sect" is itself a marginalized group in every meaningful sense of the word.  Note how ready you are to discriminate and make guesses.  The difference is that those who marginalize Christians hold power, and act openly. 

Finally, why shouldn't a student's essay mention Jesus in certain circumstances?  Are the assignments narrative?  Informal or personal?  Try forbidding all religious expressions in first-person essays and see where that gets you.

[madhatter]

I'm a faculty member at a small public college in a large urban area, and I was surprised to hear that a candidate for an important student-services dean position is also a lead preacher in a very fundamentalist and homophobic Christian sect. What are the legalities of objecting to a candidate because of the candidate's religious work? 

It is illegal to discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion. Period.

Am I just being narrow-minded?

Probably.

[neutralname]

Obviously the private religious affiliation of the candidate are irrelevant.  The question is whether the public homophobic statements and actions of the candidate disqualify him.

I think the best comparison is if the candidate held a prominent position in a racist group or antisemitic organization.  It would be bizarre is such a person was a finalist for the position as a dean.  But if you are not on the committee, I'm not sure that you have any right to raise formal objections.  If it were me, I might try talking to someone with influence (someone who I knew and trusted, if possible) and asking if they knew all the relevant information and wanting to know what was going on. 

[anthroid]

Discriminating against someone on the basis of his religious beliefs is illegal.  If you find his beliefs so awful, I suggest that you appear at every single public session and ask hard questions about how (your interpretation of) his beliefs would further the mission of the university.  If he's as bad as you say, he won't get past the negative comments he receives on the evaluation sheets--but only if you are there to confront him.  I hope you don't have any classes to teach or anything.

/snark

Look, I am not a fan of fundamentalist Christians for the most part.  But your assumptions are smacking you in the face big time, OP.  Are you sure he's a fundamentalist?  How do you know this?  How do you know that his beliefs will guide his work?  If it really is an issue, but the hiring committee doesn't seem concerned, then you will need to find a way to come to terms with this, if he is hired.  Service learning and Christianity are absolutely related for many folks (though of course service learning takes place outside of the realm of religious belief as well) and I suspect that this guy is compelling to the hiring committee for more reasons than you are acknowledging. 

Regardless, you need to express your discomfort.  Have you spoken to anyone on the hiring committee?  Sounds like you should.

[voxprincipalis]

I'm a faculty member at a small public college in a large urban area, and I was surprised to hear that a candidate for an important student-services dean position is also a lead preacher in a very fundamentalist and homophobic Christian sect. What are the legalities of objecting to a candidate because of the candidate's religious work? 

This is interesting to me, because while one may not discriminate on the basis of someone's religious beliefs, can one discriminate based on the actions that arise out of those beliefs? Obviously if those actions are law-breaking, that's a different story. But let's say, for example, that Fred Phelps applies for this job. To what extent are his (non-illegal) actions protected under the aegis of non-discrimination against religion?

VP

[msparticularity]

To what extent are his (non-illegal) actions protected under the aegis of non-discrimination against religion?

VP

My understanding is that this depends upon the degree to which their beliefs--as expressed through their own speech and actions--has implications for the job requirements. Refusing to hire someone who has publicly spoken in favor of discrimination into a student services position could, IMO, certainly be defended, and actually has little or nothing to do with religion. While there are no laws against public speech that advocates against particular groups, there are definitely laws against actually discriminating against them in the public sphere. Religious belief is not a defense for engaging in behavior that is prohibited in the public sphere (such as discrimination in educational settings). Reasonable suspicion, based upon past actions, that someone might engage in such behavior would thus be a reasonable cause for refusing to hire someone into a position that involves treating a range of people fairly.

[couleur]

Thanks to all for the thoughtful feedback.  I have brought the issue to the attention of various members of the hiring committee and also to the president of the college.
When you Google the candidate's name, you are instantly smacked hard with the candidate's intense involvement (co-head) in a Bible-literalist sect. Creationism and other Bible-literalist beliefs strike me as wrong-headed in a dean of students in a public college.

[larryc]

Couleur, you come across as bigoted against religion. Which is your right, and hell I have tendencies in that direction myself. But what has this person said or done that disqualifies him, besides belonging to a church that you (and I) dislike?

I do think you should put him to the test and take advantage of the public hearings to question the candidate. Obprof has it exactly right. You ask: "Mr. Candidate, college is a time when a lot of young people who might have been bullied for their sexual orientation in high school come out and assert their identities. How will you make sure that gay and lesbian students have a respected place on this campus?" Then your friend asks "Mr Candidate, many of our students will come to your office looking for access to birth control, information about safe sex, and how to safely end an unwanted pregnancy. How will you help these students?" And so on. You can tie the poor bastard up in knots and hang him out to dry.

[writingprof]

Creationism . . . strikes me as wrong-headed in a dean of students in a public college.

I can understand concerns about homophobia, but Creationism?  Who cares?  It's not like students are going to be asking their dean how the Earth came about.  

What's next?  Employment discrimination against JFK conspiracy-theorists?  Shakespeare-was-one-guy naysayers?  

Disguised (poorly) behind your concerns about students' welfare is an absurd and discriminatory assertion that any literal religious belief unsuits one for work at a public institution. 

[dellaroux]

I will say that, while I both share some of the reservations and have also benefited at certain times in my own life by associations with those of more conservative belief structures than my own have evolved to become, it does seem wise to try to flush out the potential (and not unpredictable) problems that might arise were this person to be given the position.

2) I had a similar situation with a candidate for bishop in our diocese once a couple of decades ago. This person was one with whom I and others had had serious issues, and I made a point of attending one of the "meet the people" groups that had been assembled for that purpose.

I asked the same questions of all four candidates: "How would you deal with females already in positions of authority within the diocesan structure who did not owe their accession to those positions to you?" and, "How would you encourage and enable those with creative offerings that may be less easily legislated and controlled by a church leader to grow and flourish in their ministries?"

The others handled them well; the person in question flubbed them both quite badly, and knew exactly why I was asking.

The individual in question also did not even get 10% of the vote when it came around, which was in its own sad way reassuring.

[shrek]

I think it's good to ask hard questions and as dellaroux did--ask everyone the same set of questions. At the same time you don't know that this person won't be able to treat everyone fairly. I am reminded of a h.s. teacher I had very very religious. She was a much-loved, marvelous teacher-- people fought to get into her classes. And her classes were comprised of a diverse set of students-- from the nerdy, the dreamers, the artsy crowd (which included the pot-smoking, gay & lesbian, and rebels--) and so on. She never her personal beliefs get in the way of her effectiveness as a teacher and mentor.

Of course not everyone is like that, but you need to be able to tell the difference. Asking questions is one of those ways.