Posted on 04/10/2006 9:17:06 PM PDT by sionnsar
Ruth Malhotra went to court last month for the right to be intolerant.
Malhotra says her Christian faith compels her to speak out against homosexuality. But the Georgia Institute of Technology, where shes a senior, bans speech that puts down others because of their sexual orientation.
Malhotra sees that as an unacceptable infringement on her right to religious expression. So shes demanding that Georgia Tech revoke its tolerance policy.
With her lawsuit, the 22-year-old student joins a growing campaign to force public schools, state colleges and private workplaces to eliminate policies protecting gays and lesbians from harassment. The religious right aims to overturn a broad range of common tolerance programs: diversity training that promotes acceptance of gays and lesbians, speech codes that ban harsh words against homosexuality, anti-discrimination policies that require college clubs to open their membership to all.
The Rev. Rick Scarborough, a leading evangelical, frames the movement as the civil rights struggle of the 21st century. Christians, he said, are going to have to take a stand for the right to be Christian.
In that spirit, the Christian Legal Society, an association of judges and lawyers, has formed a national group to challenge tolerance policies in federal court. Several nonprofit law firms backed by major ministries such as Focus on the Family and Campus Crusade for Christ already take on such cases for free.
The legal argument is straightforward: Policies intended to protect gays and lesbians from discrimination end up discriminating against conservative Christians. Evangelicals have been suspended for wearing anti-gay T-shirts to high school, fired for denouncing Gay Pride Month at work, reprimanded for refusing to attend diversity training. When they protest tolerance codes, theyre labeled intolerant.
A recent survey by the Anti-Defamation League found that 64% of American adults including 80% of evangelical Christians agreed with the statement Religion is under attack in this country.
The message is, youre free to worship as you like, but dont you dare talk about it outside the four walls of your church, said Stephen Crampton, chief counsel for the American Family Assn. Center for Law and Policy, which represents Christians who feel harassed.
What happened to academic freedom?
Be sure to protect the people who kill by spreading AIDS with abandon.
Don't forget throwing pies at conservative guest speakers.
"The Rev. Rick Scarborough, a leading evangelical, frames the movement as the civil rights struggle of the 21st century."
I thought that was open borders and citizens' rights for illegal immigrants.
Oh, you've still got it.
They're just defining the boundaries.
Here's the long thread already going on this article.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1612291/posts?page=201#201
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