Probably a safe guess that neither Rev. Graham nor TE Watson would seek a chaperone for medical care from a female ER physician or EKG technician in a cubicle with the curtains closed. Gender separation is always circumstance dependent.
The reality is that few of us get to choose our own work supervisors though some of us get to rate our experience with the boss assigned to us. A more interesting assessment than theoretical preference would be whether the ratings that employees give to the people who already supervise them segregate in any way by either the employee or suprevisor gender or by the employee's religion.
I agree, working for a large multinational corporation, I've had men, women, various ethnicities, and religions, etc. I have a Graham type rule socially, as a married man, I'm not asking a woman out for a one-on-one social outing, but in the work world I have never worried about it.
Most new offices are designed with large windows on the offices, which cuts down on the possibility of any hanky-panky during a meeting with the boss..
Mike Pence was ridiculed for the "Billy Graham" rule in his life... then the "Me too" movement broke out and he looked like a genius. It is circumstantially dependent and the elevator illustration is extreme, but it's not a terrible idea as a general principle.
It becomes a problem when, because men can't trust themselves, women are left out of roles to keep the men "safe". I know the "rule" is very popular in churches where women are excluded from leadership.
As an evangelical white male pastor I think the responses to this is more about what these groups believe politically than theologically. The split between blaming individual choice or systemic oppression seems to be a political perspective. The Bible says both injustice and choice influence our lives but it doesn't say which is a stronger force in America today for women in business leadership roles.
Unfortunately, the two largest religious denominations in America are the Democratic and Republican parties.
Probably a safe guess that neither Rev. Graham nor TE Watson would seek a chaperone for medical care from a female ER physician or EKG technician in a cubicle with the curtains closed. Gender separation is always circumstance dependent.
The reality is that few of us get to choose our own work supervisors though some of us get to rate our experience with the boss assigned to us. A more interesting assessment than theoretical preference would be whether the ratings that employees give to the people who already supervise them segregate in any way by either the employee or suprevisor gender or by the employee's religion.
I agree, working for a large multinational corporation, I've had men, women, various ethnicities, and religions, etc. I have a Graham type rule socially, as a married man, I'm not asking a woman out for a one-on-one social outing, but in the work world I have never worried about it.
Most new offices are designed with large windows on the offices, which cuts down on the possibility of any hanky-panky during a meeting with the boss..
Mike Pence was ridiculed for the "Billy Graham" rule in his life... then the "Me too" movement broke out and he looked like a genius. It is circumstantially dependent and the elevator illustration is extreme, but it's not a terrible idea as a general principle.
It becomes a problem when, because men can't trust themselves, women are left out of roles to keep the men "safe". I know the "rule" is very popular in churches where women are excluded from leadership.
As an evangelical white male pastor I think the responses to this is more about what these groups believe politically than theologically. The split between blaming individual choice or systemic oppression seems to be a political perspective. The Bible says both injustice and choice influence our lives but it doesn't say which is a stronger force in America today for women in business leadership roles.
Unfortunately, the two largest religious denominations in America are the Democratic and Republican parties.