It is not often that I glowingly recommend an article from Skeptic magazine. But religious skeptic Michael Shermer’s plea for viewpoint diversity and freedom of speech is worth recommending. I do not agree with every word in it, but the gist of it — that we need to be on the side of free speech —  must be affirmed. Christians should be looking for allies in the fight for free speech, especially in our current academic atmosphere. And we must use our own Christian educational institutions to show the rest of society our commitment to free speech and to exhibit true academic freedom.

Support for free speech cannot stop when that speech is something we do not approve. Indeed, I need to model this by criticizing colleges that ban anti-Zionism rhetoric; support the freedom of a scholar who speaks harshly of Israel; and — this really pains me to say — support the right of college students to promote Donald Trump. Academic freedom means nothing if it does not protect the views of those with whom we disagree.

A couple of key reasons tied to our Christian faith should compel us to support free speech. First, it is simply the right thing to do. As God’s creatures, we have the right to promote the ideas that we think will make people better. To arbitrarily stop those with ideas that differ from our own violates the divine element of free will that God has placed in all of us. As Christians we should allow people to promote the ideas they believe in and, ideally, as they are free to do so then we can contrast those ideas with the Gospel when it is appropriate. Promoting freedom of thought is the best way to understand how non-Christians think about spiritual reality and to be in the best position to minister to them.

However, there is another, practical reason we should promote free speech, especially on college campuses. As I have argued in other essays, Christianophobia is a problem on our college campuses. If we are not going to extend free speech to those who oppose Christian values and beliefs, then it certainly will not be extended to Christians. Indeed, we have already seen Christians organizations forced off campuses through devious institutional mechanisms such as “all-comers” policies. To be more effective in fighting for free speech for themselves, Christians have to be willing to fight for it for others.

What are the academic freedom implications on Christian colleges and universities? Clearly these colleges and universities have a religious mission statement and the right to find people who adhere to that statement. However, I hope that these institutions are careful not use these religious statements to stifle some of the different ideas that still comport with the general values of the institution.

There will be gray areas, of course. One difficult case occurred at Wheaton College. I was disappointed that Wheaton did not work out an arrangement to keep Larycia Hawkins, who had insisted that Muslims and Christians worship the same God, and wore Muslim garb to express solidarity with Muslims. Perhaps an official statement by the college disavowing Hawkin’s particular interpretation of Islam could have sufficed to allow her to teach, underscoring that her ideas do not represent the college.

However, I was also disappointed that many of Hawkins’ defenders do not seem to worry as much about free speech on other Christian campuses. The case of John McAdams at Marquette University seems to not have raised a peep from such “defenders” of academic freedom. Can their silence be due to the fact that they support same-sex marriage and McAdams at least believes that students should be able to voice opposition to it?

If that is the reason, then such supporters are not truly supporting free speech but free speech for those they agree with. It is hard to defend free speech for those we disagree with, but taking such difficult stances should be part of what it means to be a Christian.

We know free speech is being attacked on state campuses. We know Christian colleges and universities have a religious mission that compels the promotion of certain theological beliefs. Nonetheless, beyond these basic theological standards there is room to practice the free speech and viewpoint diversity that is lacking on non-Christian campuses. Liberty University demonstrated how to do this when they allowed Bernie Sanders to speak to their students. Christian colleges and universities must model the academic freedom and free speech that is missing on too many state and public campuses today. It is part of our Christian values, and a practical necessity given this current academic climate.