Vice President Mike Pence has received a large amount of criticism for his Christian faith and most recently for the standards he holds himself to concerning women other than his wife. He has come out publicly and stated that he will not eat alone with a woman other than his wife and that he will not attend events that serve alcohol without her by his side. These standards he holds himself to are known by many evangelicals as the ‘Billy Graham Rule.’

A double-edged sword

The great Billy Graham was quite famous for not meeting, traveling or dining with a woman alone. He held himself to this rule, to not be tempted by extramarital actions. With Graham’s huge ministry, he did not want to show any sort of immoral activity that would affect bringing souls to Christ. Graham himself has received a great deal of criticism from those outside of the church with the notion that he was sexist and the rules he followed regarding women seem to further prove that point. It has been a problem within the church where leadership is predominantly male and women are not afforded the same amount of individual time with a pastor as men. While the Billy Graham rule can be helpful in helping a man remain faithful to his wife, it does not show the proper amount of respect to other women.

Outside of the church the rule has the same sort of effect. In a professional environment, if a man is afforded more individual time with his boss than a woman, it certainly does foster unequal opportunities. While there has been huge growth and women have made fantastic strides since the age of Billy Graham, those in positions of power must be careful to make sure the balance of opportunity is equal to all. It is a difficult issue and a topic which has sparked a great deal of rage from progressives. There is the notion today that man is not inherently sinful and having standards as Pence does is always going to be unfair to somebody. It is not an easy task to maintain a flourishing marriage and there should be no shaming when it comes to how a couple goes about doing this.

An example of loyalty

The sanctity of marriage is obviously of the utmost importance to Pence and his wife Karen Pence. While the Billy Graham rule in and of itself has some flaws, it is helping our vice president to keep his marriage strong while setting a wonderful example of the importance of remaining loyal to one’s spouse. There is definitely something to be admired about a person who can admit their own weaknesses and set standards to follow so as to not succumb to them. If anything, Pence has demonstrated an understanding of his weaknesses and that is something we all can work towards.