Reflections » Rights Watch

Not Allowed to Seek Christian Roommate?

PK — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 17:36:12 +0000

A civil rights complaint was filed against a Michigan woman for seeking a Christian roommate. She posted a notice on a bulletin board in a church seeking a Christian roommate. Someone saw it and took offense at the “discriminatory” statement, so they filed a complaint with the local fair housing center. This is totally outrageous! We should be free to choose the people we allow to rent a room in our house or apartment.

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Campus Christian Group Loses Court Case

PK — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 20:18:10 +0000

The US Supreme Court has ruled against the Christian Legal Society in their case against the UC Hastings Law School regarding requirements for membership and leadership positions. The campus group welcomes anyone to attend, but requires voting members to sign a statement of faith and commit to Christian standards of conduct. They had argued that the rules established by Hastings could be interpreted in such a way as to force them to allow a non-Christian to become a Bible study leader.

Although the particular focus of the complaint that Hastings had against the group was on their statement about sexual morality, specifically homosexuality, today’s court ruling is much broader than that. It may be interpreted to mean that any requirement to commit to a statement of faith or Christian conduct is discriminatory and not to be allowed by a campus group. Even establishing such requirements only for leaders may come under attack.

If campus Christian groups are forced to give up their Christian identity in order to be registered as official campus organizations it would force them to operate off campus. We need to keep watch on this issue, and pray for continued open doors for campus ministry.

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Legal Battle Over Campus Christian Group

PK — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:28:34 +0000

In a case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Christian Legal Society is fighting for its right to limit membership to Christians. The University of California’s Hastings College of the Law has denied the Christian Legal Society recognition as a campus student group because they require voting members to sign a statement of faith, and regard “unrepentant participation in or advocacy of a sexually immoral lifestyle” to be inconsistent with the statement of faith.

Hastings demands that no recognized campus groups may exclude people due to religious belief or sexual orientation. By including not only behavior, but belief as well, their position implies that Christian groups cannot require adherence to Christian beliefs for people to become voting members or to serve in leadership positions. Should Christian groups be required to give an atheist the right to become a Bible study leader? Are campus Christian groups forbidden from requiring those in leadership to hold to Christian beliefs or to enbrace a Christian code of conduct?

Most secular campus have similar non-discrimination policies. If those policies were rigorously enforced or if Christian groups on campus were challenged on these points many other campus fellowship groups might find themselves in a similar position.

Please pray for God to work in this court case. If the Christian Legal Society loses, we will be one step closer to the day when all campus Christian groups will be forced to choose between abandoning their Christian principles or leaving campus.

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Students disciplined for praying can sue

PK — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 23:33:35 +0000

An article in today’s SF Chronicle describes the plight of two students at the College of Alameda who were threatened with suspension for praying with a teacher who was ill in a faculty office. A U.S. District judge has refused the school’s efforts to have the case dismissed and said has ruled that the lawsuit filed by the students can go ahead. The students are seeking affirmation of their rights and removal of all disciplinary actions, but no damages other than their court costs. For more details, see this article.

I don’t have any information on this case apart from these news articles, but based on the information here this looks like an outrageous attempt to ban religion, especially Christianity, from the campus. The teacher was sick and the two girls prayed for her, with her consent, in a faculty office. Another faculty member walked into the shared office and insisted that they stop, which they did. But then they were accused of “disruptive behavior” and disciplinary action was taken. Outrageous! I’m glad that the two girls involved have legal representation and that the case is going forward. Schools must learn that they cannot selectively discriminate against the first amendment rights of Christians.

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Tractor trailer displaying Christian message remains along NY highway

PK — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:42:58 +0000

Daniel Burritt owns a construction company in New York, and he uses his property in various ways to spread the Gospel. He has a trailer parked on his property, within sight of the highway, with a Gospel message on the side. The state highway department threatened to forcibly remove the trailer, even though other trailers with commercial messages on them were allowed to remain. After the Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit, the trailer was allowed to remain.

I’m sure that some Christians will criticize his methods, but before your criticize him you should ask what actions you are taking to actively share your faith. As someone who was criticized once said, “I like my way of sharing my faith better than your way of not sharing yours.” Even though some people might dislike the message, they don’t have the right to single out Christians to suppress our freedom of speech.

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Christian Group Allowed to Return to Ohio Campus

PK — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:42:35 +0000

A previously banned Christian group has been allowed to return to the campus of Wright State University in Ohio. The group Campus Bible Fellowship had previously been registered as a student organization for more than 30 years, but their renewal was rejected recently because they refused to incorporate certain nondiscrimination statements in their constitution. The required statements would have made it impossible for them to require that voting members be Christians or that they adhere to their statement of faith.

Campus Bible Fellowship turned for help to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which informed the campus officials of the possible legal problems with their stance. Upon receiving letters from FIRE, Wright State backed down and allowed the group to meet on campus until the end of the term in May. The campus is avoiding putting anything in writing, and they may once again try to force the group to add the nondiscrimination clauses when they need to renew their registration after May. It seems that this situation is still in flux, and we should keep this Christian group in our prayers.

According to their web site, FIRE does not engage in litigation, but fortunately there are another organizations such as the Alliance Defense Fund and the Christian Legal Society that do go to court to defend the legal rights of Christian groups. A similar requirement for campus groups at Ohio State was changed after the filing of a lawsuit by the Christian Legal Society. In fact, such requirements in many universities are illegal violations of First Amendment rights, but the policies won’t be changed unless they are challenged.

This post is in the new Rights Watch category, which I have set up to report on issues related to our religious freedoms around the world. There are many efforts to curtail the freedom of Christians to live out and share their faith, and most of those situations never make their way into mainstream media. We need to be aware of our rights, and to pray for those who are fighting efforts to silence their witness.

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