A Different Type of Culture War

The latest battle in the culture wars may just have started in Ohio...

Heritage Christian school had warned 17-year-old Tyler Frost that he would be suspended and prohibited from attending graduation if he went to the Saturday dance. The fundamentalist Baptist school in northwest Ohio forbids dancing, rock music and hand holding.

So what happened?

He went to the prom.

And the result:

Heritage principal Tim England said Frost will receive an "incomplete" on remaining assignments and will be banned from graduation ceremonies, but will receive his diploma after completing his finals.

Frost's father, Stephan Johnson, said the suspension is unfair and that he plans to sue the school.

When I became a Christian in 1963 I was a member of just such a church where these things were forbidden. But it wasn't a school so many of us still went ahead and danced and held hands anyway. It is 46 years later and the same issues are still rumbling around in the fundamentalist Baptist world.

In short, this is a culture war that has been around for a long, long time- well before even my experiences. It doesn't look like they have made much progress.