Patrick Feagin ‘27 is an international relations major. He is a proud member of the William and Mary Fencing Team and is active in the Alexander Hamilton Society. He is obsessed with fountain pens and loves reading about theology and history.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own.
In this Lenten time of penance, I find it to be an opportune time to call fellow Christians to accountability and self-reflection.
Recently, one of my friends showed me the article “A World Turned Upside Down” by the Wren Journal’s Eduard Holland-Farres. The article explores the consequences of societal secularization, criticizing women in particular for “immodest dress.” Beyond the thinly veiled misogyny of such critique, it also contradicts Scripture. In 1 Samuel 16:7, God tells Samuel:
“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Furthermore, when the Pharisees brought the adulteress before Christ, hoping he would condemn her, He responded in John 8:7:
“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
No man but Christ is without sin; therefore, we should heed His warning, and not condemn others without self-reflection into our own sin.
Holland-Farres justifies his critique by arguing that immodest dress is an expression of pride—a serious sin. Yet I find this deeply ironic, as the act of publicly condemning others out of a misplaced zeal is the very sin of pride and self-righteousness. Too often, Christians become so zealous in asserting Christ’s message that they forget their place, a sin I know all too well. In John 7:24, Christ commands us:
“Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
Christians must be mindful of their own pride, for we, too, are vulnerable to its grasp. Even Satan, once the greatest of God’s angels, fell to his own pride.
Holland-Farres also condemns “tight clothing that accentuates the most intimate parts of the body,” implying that such attire serves as a sexual distraction. Yet, Christ never commanded women to cover themselves to curtail the lust of men. Rather, He made it clear that individuals are responsible for their own lust. In Matthew 5:28, He declares:
“But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
And in Matthew 18:9, He goes even further:
“And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.”
Christ clearly illustrates that it is on the individual to curtail their lust. It is not the responsibility of others — especially not women — to regulate someone else’s purity via their sartorial choices.
But unfortunately, this seems to be an all too common pattern for the Wren Journal’s publications. Another Wren Journal article, “Student Senate funds $3,225 Pridefest, $400 Drag Queen. Petitions School for D.E.I., ” condemns the Student Assembly for its recent “Pride Month Act,” which establishes an LGBTQ+ Pride celebration (“Pridefest”) on campus in April. The authors (who remain anonymous, being published under the “Wren Journal Board”) claim that April was deliberately chosen to coincide with Easter, declaring an intentional attack on Christianity.
Not only is this claim utterly unfounded, it’s frankly embarrassing that the Wren Journal asserts this. April was chosen because it is the last month before final exams — not as an act of hostility toward Christians. Suggesting otherwise fosters unnecessary division that Christ would not approve of.
More importantly, the LGBTQ+ community is not an adversary to Christianity. It is a historically and contemporaneously marginalized set of groups that, only in recent years, have been able to express themselves openly. To imply that the celebration of the LGBTQ+ community is inherently anti-Christian is to imply that LGBTQ+ people are not worthy of the gospel or God’s love. It also denies the validity of millions of Christians who are LGBTQ+, many of them deacons, priests and bishops. It is imperative that Christians remember that Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary was for that of all humanity, lest we forget his command to Love thy neighbor.
But in the spirit of good debate, let’s assume that the Wren Journal’s premise that the Pride Month Act is an intentional attack on Christianity is true. How should we, as Christians, respond? Christ provides us with the answer in Matthew 5:39:
“But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”
Christ Himself, when beaten, tortured and crucified, did not resist, even though he was perfectly innocent. He never lifted a hand against His persecutors. He asked that they be forgiven.
If Christians feel that the world is against them, they must remember it was against Christ first, and their response should not be outrage, condemnation or self-victimization. Instead, they should follow Christ’s example of humility, grace and love. Romans 12:18 reminds us:
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
In closing, I beseech not only the Wren Journal Board but all Christians to use this Lent as an opportunity for self-reflection. Pride and self-righteousness are insidious sins, ones that can blind us to the very teachings of Christ we claim to follow. Before we fall into misplaced zeal, let us remember God’s most powerful attribute, love, and apply it to everyone we meet, as Christ did in Galilee and Judea.
As a final testament of self-reflection, I leave you with Christ’s warning in Matthew 7:21-23: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
