Aw crap!

Three hours ago I posted my positive feelings toward World Vision USA for its progressive and loving Christian decision to hire Christians in same-gender marriages, and this happens:

 

World Vision Reverses Decision On Gay Christian Hiring Policy

Just days after announcing that it was revising its handbook to allow the hiring of Christians who are in same-sex marriages, World Vision leaders said Wednesday that the organization had "failed to be consistent" with the Bible and had reversed its decision after a board meeting.

"The board acknowledged they made a mistake and chose to revert to our longstanding conduct policy requiring sexual abstinence for all single employees and faithfulness within the Biblical covenant of marriage between a man and a woman," said a statement signed World Vision President Richard Stearns and Jim Beré, Chairman of the World Vision U.S. Board....We are brokenhearted over the pain and confusion we have caused many of our friends, who saw this decision as a reversal of our strong commitment to Biblical authority. We ask that you understand that this was never the board's intent."

World Vision, one of the largest international relief organizations, was both cheered by LGBT advocates and heavily criticized by conservative Christians when it announced its first change to allow married LGBT employees. Reaction to its reversal played along similar lines.
(Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/26/world-vision-reverses-gay-christian_n_5037689.html.)

If you can believe it, World Vision had the gall to add: While World Vision U.S. stands firmly on the biblical view of marriage, we strongly affirm that all people, regardless of their sexual orientation, are created by God and are to be loved and treated with dignity and respect.

If you can find any dignity or respect in this action, I'll eat my shirt. World Vision has clearly caved in to donor pressure.

This is why I wish more Christian universities and other faith-based institutions of higher learning would offer programs in management of non-profit societies. The managements of non-profits (or NGOs) have to deal with a number of challenges not typically faced by profit-seeking businesses; e.g., development (i.e., fund-raising), finding competent board members, working with volunteers, etc. In my rather lengthy experience with the non-profit sector, board members have often been more of a hindrance than a help. Plus the wages typically paid often lead to the hiring of managers who are not as well-prepared or experienced as one would like.

But World Vision is a huge organization. They raise multimillions of dollars. Presumably they can afford to hire competent management and attract effective board members. Or so I would have thought. But they obviously didn't think out in advance this human resource management change; i.e., hiring professing Christians in same-sex marriages. Consequently, and much to their apparent surprise, donors started withdrawing their support in huge numbers.

[Editorial comment: Who was hurt by this withdrawal of donations? The children that World Vision was supporting! How is what these reactionary donors threatened to do any different from abortion--punish the organization by pulling the rug (that is, food, shelter, security, and education) out from under the children? "I can't deal with the problem, so I'll take it out on the kid." Once again, innocent third parties get the shaft.]

So what do we have? Either principle losing out to expediency (sometimes referred to as not having the courage of one's convictions, or more bluntly, moral cowardice). Or naive and incompetent leadership. Or both. Whatever the answer, shame.