The Billy Graham rule, despite its stupidity, unbiblicality, and impracticality, has not been completely abandoned by evangelicals. This asinine principle, which involves avoiding people of the opposite gender other than one's spouse unless a third person is present, has even infiltrated the political world, with conservative politician (it's usually conservatives, if not only them, that endorse this nonsense) Mike Pence serving as a blatant example of someone who abides by it. Often used as an alleged protection from adultery or rape accusations, the rule is riddled with logical, Biblical, and practical errors, not to mention the other grave problems with the approach of those who support the Billy Graham rule that are almost never even alluded to [1].
Given the nature of politics, as well as other occupations, people must interact with other people to perform their duties, and circumstances might call for private meetings or conversations between two people. If a woman doesn't feel comfortable with working around or befriending men in one-on-one settings, she shouldn't be a politician. Likewise, if a man doesn't feel comfortable with working around or befriending women in one-on-one settings, he shouldn't be a politician. The matter is ultimately that simple! There is no room for sexist practices in politics--especially if they are driven by personal insecurities derived from fallacious beliefs--either from a Christian standpoint or from a utilitarian one.
Biblically (and logically speaking), it is inherently problematic to discriminate against people on grounds of gender. Men and women are metaphysical equals by virtue of bearing God's image, and one's gender does not define one's personality. It does not matter what one's experiences with some men or some women have been like: to assume anything about a person's psychological traits because of their gender is irrational, unjust, and harmful. Thus, to treat men or women differently by default is unjustifiable, contrary to both reason and the Bible. The Bible itself gives examples of men and women who conversed while alone without any sexual overtones or behaviors, affirming the basic logical fact that there is nothing inherently sexual about men and women being alone together.
Men are neither sexual predators nor the aggressors in cases of abuse by default even when sexual interactions do occur, and women are neither sexual temptresses nor helpless victims by default. It follows from the falsity of stereotypes that there is never a basis for universally refusing to be alone with someone of the opposite gender, especially in a corporate or political context. Personal anxieties are likewise not legitimate reasons to devise impractical guidelines for one's occupational interaction with the opposite gender. Someone like Mike Pence has no right to interfere with the political activities of women by excluding them from private interactions, just as no woman has the right to do the same thing to a man.
From a utilitarian standpoint, egalitarianism alone puts qualified people in the positions their competencies match them with, and those positions might call for one-on-one meetings with the opposite gender. Thus, even if one sets aside both the inherent logical errors of the Billy Graham rule's sexism and its Biblical errors, gender segregation--no matter what the basis for it is--is an enemy of societal progress. This fact is irrelevant to the deconstruction of stereotypes and to Biblical exegesis, but it is worthy of at least some attention simply because of the wasted potential sexist biases inevitably result in. The Billy Graham rule hinders the numerous benefits of allowing individual men and women to routinely, spontaneously interact as equals and friends.
Either way, it is clear that any person who demonizes, fears, or stereotypes the opposite gender is not fit for a work environment where one must interact with other people. To exclude men or women from the workplace is inexcusable, but to limit the roles that either gender can play in politics is especially destructive. Even so, conservative anxieties have shaped the political arena so that the Billy Graham rule is often accepted or encouraged by the evangelical community despite its inherent stupidity and injustice.
[1]. The proponents of the Billy Graham rule almost completely ignore female-male sexual harassment and tend to blame male victims of false accusations for being alone with women, when the deceitful women themselves would be the problem.
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