Posted on 08/06/2011 6:26:09 AM PDT by ZGuy
A federal appeals court ruling this week could significantly diminish public university religious groups' ability to restrict membership and leadership to students who agree with their teachings.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that San Diego State University's nondiscrimination policy for officially recognized campus groups is constitutional. The policy is based on a nondiscrimination policy used at all the schools in the California State University system.
Two Christian groups sued SDSU in 2005, alleging the policy violated their free-speech and religious-freedom rights. For the groups to be recognized as official campus groups, they were required to allow all students to be members, even if their beliefs were contradictory to the group's beliefs.
The three-judge panel disagreed, stating the policy is a "rule of general application" that is not unconstitutional in its intent. "[We] do not doubt that, regardless of [SDSU]'s purpose in enacting its nondiscrimination policy, the policy will have the effect of burdening some groups more than others," circuit judge Harry Pregerson wrote in the panel's decision. "But the fact that a 'regulation has a differential impact on groups wishing to enforce exclusionary membership policies' does not render it unconstitutional. … Any burden on religion is incidental to the general application of the policy."
The Ninth Circuit is the first court of appeals to make a decision in a case like this since the Supreme Court handed down a ruling last year that the Hastings College of Law in California could require student groups to open membership and leadership to all students, even critics.
The school says campus groups cannot restrict membership or leadership positions "on the basis of race, sex, color, age, religion, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental handicap, ancestry, or medical condition, except as explicitly exempted under federal law."
(Excerpt) Read more at christianitytoday.com ...
The right to free association is dead.
So, then can Jews and Christians join Muslim organizations too?
That ruling makes perfect sense (for the 9th circuit).
Time to put training wheels on that court until they learn the U.S. Constitution, or at least the Cliff Notes version of it.
When some of the liberal student groups get punked by conservatives clamoring to join (and it won’t be long) they’ll be squealing to the deans to rescind that policy.
Does this apply to Muslim groups as well?
I think the key is, that it’s on Uncle Sam’s dime. Pay the piper, call the tune. Yeah, they could get slapped by the USSC as many a time before. But conservative students can stop this at a local level PDQ by punking liberal groups that now have to be open to them.
They can, but conservatives don’t do things like that.
Exactly what they should now make a point to do.
While it sucks that Satan is having his way, the Lord said it would be so and we waste time and energy fighting this system - Christians can do more good by finding a way to unfetter themselves and not paying so much attention to worldly roadblocks. Satan will rule the worldly until Jesus returns to straighten him out - the Lord has said as much, yet we continually beat our heads against the wall trying to resist the evil that Jesus told us not to resist.
As citizens, we can campaign/lobby/vote - as Christians, we need to find the separation of worldly things and the Good News we are supposed to be spreading.
Well, then,...turn-about is fair play.
Straights should join the gay clubs en masse.
Will they support heterosexuals joining homosexual groups??
Wait until a group of KKKers try to join a black student group. You’ll hear a completely different decision then.
I've been a Christian for more than 50 years ... and I've been a part of and/or attended numerous "Christian Groups" ... and I've yet to see one which was not open to non-Christians.
In fact, every Christian Group that I'm familiar with specifically reaches out and hopes to touch non-Christians.
Therefore, it seems to me that this 9th Circus ruling is about as silly and meaningless as anything else the government has coming out of California these days.
No First Amendment in the 9th Circuit?
How can you have “Freedom of Religion” if the government can dictate the makeup and rules of said religion? Isn’t this what we left England to get away from, domination of church/government?
Bullsh.. Christians are taxpaying citizens who are having their rights circumscribed by the government to which they pay taxes. Rest assured, this decision will be overturned in the Supreme Court.
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