What do you all think of this case. The University of Minnesota is requiring all university recognized student groups to accept an "Equal Opportunity Statement" which in theory could require them to accept as leaders people who disagre with there ideology. The site it commes from is very biased but what do you think of the theory.
Religious Group Sues University of Minnesota
Says it Should be Allowed to Choose Own Leaders
MINNEAPOLIS, MN– The Maranatha Christian Fellowship, a student organization operating on the campus of the University of Minnesota, sued the University today for violating the organization's First Amendment rights.
The university is forcing the fellowship to choose between surrendering its First Amendment rights and its basic Christian teachings or to accept second-class status and be unable to meet on campus or receive university funds as other student groups do.
The Alliance Defense Fund, America’s largest public interest religious liberty legal alliance, is representing the Maranatha Christian Fellowship.
Jordan Lorence, legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund and a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School, said that the University's requirement forces all religious groups to surrender their beliefs in order to meet on campus or receive funding. “Students organized Maranatha Christian Fellowship to promote the Gospel of Christ. Anyone can attend the fellowship’s meetings, but it is absurd for the university to require this Christian group to allow people with other religious beliefs to lead it. Will the university require the campus animal rights group to allow hunters as members, and the campus Socialists to have free market libertarians leading them? I thought the University was supposed to be a marketplace of ideas,” Lorence said.
To meet on campus and receive funding as other student groups do, the fellowship must be recognized as a registered student organization. But to remain a registered student organization, the university is requiring the Maranatha Christian Fellowship to sign an “Equal Opportunity Statement.”
“That sounds harmless,” Lorence said, “but the so-called ‘Equal Opportunity Statement’ means the fellowship will be forced to accept members and officers who reject the group’s Christian teachings. The university is imposing an unconstitutional choice on the fellowship. The Maranatha Christian Fellowship cannot surrender its distinguishing elements and still accomplish its mission of Christian outreach. The university has left these students no choice but to seek legal remedies.”
The case, Maranatha Christian Fellowship v. The Regents of the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota System, was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota in Minneapolis. No court date has been set.
The Alliance Defense Fund serves people of faith; it provides strategy, training, and funding in the legal battle for religious liberty, sanctity of life, and traditional family values; it works with many allied legal organizations across the United States.
Bloody stupid. Why the hell should someone with opposition views be the leader of an organization?
"If the facts are on your side, pound on the facts. If the law is on your side, pound on the law. If neither is on your side, pound on the table."
"The captain claimed our people violated a 4,000 year old treaty forbidding us to develop hyperspace technology. Extermination of our planet was the consequence. The subject did not survive interrogation."
Equal opportunity for funding does not extend to religious organizations. First Amendment states this. That is, assuming UMinn. is a state university. If it's not, then the organization and shut its mouth.
Sì! Abbiamo un' anima! Ma è fatta di tanti piccoli robot.
Uhh, they only have to comply if they want funding from the university, right? The university reserves the right to decide who they want to fund.
It doesn't require them to have a leader who disagrees with their ideology, merely the admission of people regardless of their views.
And I thought Christianity was supposed to be accepting... I'm sure shutting out people who disagree with you is a great idea to spread your religion...
If you want public money, you cannot practice undue discrimination. Period. I have a problem with even giving religious organizations campus money in the first place. But if they want it, they'd better be willing to respect civil rights.
Damien Sorresso
"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
"The University of Minnesota is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation."
It says nothing about requiring them to be officers, merely about allowing them the opportunity. It's no different from the rules most colleges operate under, and it's sheer idiocy from that "Maranatha Christian Fellowship."
Stanley Hauerwas wrote:[W]hy is it that no one is angry at the inequality of income in this country? I mean, the inequality of income is unbelievable. Unbelievable. Why isn’t that ever an issue of politics? Because you don’t live in a democracy. You live in a plutocracy. Money rules.
This is hardly unique. At Villanova, a free market libertarian could indeed feel free to join the campus Young Socialists, an athiest the various Catholic organizations, et cetera. And all members are qualified to be officers under the rules for students organizations, even organizations where the officers theoretically had to have some kind of experience or technical knowledge (like the students newspapers--on ours, at least, the offices of president and vice president were technically elected, but the only candidate was the editor and chief and the managing editor, respectively).
Now, there are dillholes who would join a group they disagree with just to be disruptive. However, there's a solution to that: throw him out for being disruptive. "Equality statements" don't allow for people to interfere with clubs they don't agree with, after all. And I doubt one of these people would get elected to an officer positions.
Bottom line: the University of Minnesota isn't interfering in anyone's right. If this Christian Alliance doesn't like having to possibly accept a homosexual or an athiest as a member, they can stop accepting school funding.
Any city gets what it admires, will pay for, and, ultimately, deserves…We want and deserve tin-can architecture in a tinhorn culture. And we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed.--Ada Louise Huxtable, "Farewell to Penn Station", New York Times editorial, 30 October 1963 X-Ray Blues
Many years ago, at the University of British Columbia, the Young Conservatives club started to stir up some shit by trying to get a (very)liberal campus newspaper shut down and by behaving like general asses.
The next year, an entire fraternity joined the YC's and proceeded to elect themselves into all the executive positions. It took about two years to get the club back to "normal". The YC's were a much subdued group after that.
The Christian clubs are perhaps worried of a similar thing happening.
Durandal wrote:If you want public money, you cannot practice undue discrimination. Period. I have a problem with even giving religious organizations campus money in the first place. But if they want it, they'd better be willing to respect civil rights.
I agree, but there is also the issue that the group would not be allowed to meet on campus, either.
Howedar wrote:I agree, but there is also the issue that the group would not be allowed to meet on campus, either.
That I think is a problem. Not the money.
That depends on what exactly you define as a meeting I'm not going to go crusading against a bunch of Christians sitting in the quad or a residence hall study lounge and talking about Jesus. I would have a problem if they procured these facilities for a religious service, but just sitting around and meeting is their freedom of assembly on public property.
Damien Sorresso
"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
