Daily Herald opinion: Standing in the need of prayer: What a social media flap says about our ability to talk to each other

The easy thing would be to stay out of the Wheaton College social media imbroglio altogether. Whatever side one takes is unlikely to sway the advocates of either side — one that decries the college’s online congratulations to an alumnus appointed to a high position in the Trump administration, the other that condemns the school for capitulating to the appointment’s critics — so weighing in is certain to not just invite untamable animosity but also, and more important, to merely extend and possibly deepen the rancor surrounding the controversy.

But that latter is really the point, isn’t it? The issue here isn’t just whether a university should make a social media post congratulating a particular graduate on an achievement; it’s whether a university should make a social media post congratulating any graduate for reaching a high rank in government or any point of social prominence. And, if we’ve reached the point at which the answer is that colleges, universities, school districts, villages, municipalities or county boards must refuse to express pride in a favorite son or daughter’s elevation, what does that say about the shambles in which we find our democracy?

The issue facing Wheaton College involves Russell Vought, a 1998 Wheaton graduate and Donald Trump’s choice to head the Office of Management and Budget. It should come as no shock to readers of this page that we are no fan of Vought, nor especially the “Project 25” document of which he is a major contributor. We have grave, grave doubts about his potential impact on our government.

And yet, we cannot help but worry about the state of our system if his alma mater cannot state on Facebook that it “congratulates and prays for” him in his new role. Indeed, if prayer is, as is sometimes said, the last refuge of the desperate, we cannot but plead for more of it in abundance in Vought’s case.

At the same time, we cannot criticize the Wheaton grads who took issue with the post. They have every right to express their concerns and, especially, to frame them in the religious and social context of the college’s mission statement. In fact, such pushback is a necessary component of a functioning democracy that would be protected against the appearance of normalizing dangerous extremism.

We just have to wonder why such expressions must lead to a circumstance in which an institution has no alternative but to apply some indefinable “controversy standard” to its decisions about every online post.

If the college were offering a distinguished alumni award to Vought or some other such formal honor, we could understand the need for a broader and more nuanced discussion of his merits. But “congratulations and prayer” in an online media post?

Who are we?

After removing the original post, the college issued a new statement online, stating among other things, “It was not our intention to embroil the College in a political discussion or dispute. Our institutional and theological commitments are clear that the College, as a nonprofit institution, does not make political endorsements. Wheaton College’s focus is on Christ and His Kingdom.”

Such a statement would seem to imply that the college will never issue an online offer of congratulations and prayer to another politician, for surely under such broad standards, any statement would risk the appearance of endorsement.

Earlier this month, the DuPage County Board made the dubious decision to remove the name of Henry Hyde from the county’s judicial center. Board members contended that their reasoning was purely out of concern for identifying public buildings with political officials. We responded that our society has reached a sad state if we are never again to identify a road, school, park, library or other facility with the name of a political or social leader.

Where, then, do we find ourselves if an institution cannot express simple congratulations and prayers for one its graduates?

Well, if nothing else, in need of prayer, certainly.