Watch the Briefs
by Kathy Brown on June 30th, 2010 | 0 comments
The Supreme Court’s decision about handguns attracted most of the press this week. However, another ruling may be just as important. The issue at hand is whether a Christian organization is allowed to follow Biblical convictions, or if the homosexual agenda trumps that right. The summary follows below.
The ACLJ (American Center for Law and Justice) filed an amicus brief with the high court in the case of Christian Legal Society v. Martinez representing numerous Christian campus organizations.
"This is an extremely disappointing decision that significantly damages the constitutional rights of religious organizations," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. "The majority of the Supreme Court missed the mark in understanding that it is fundamental to religious freedom that religious groups are free to define their own mission, select their own leaders and determine their own membership criteria. By permitting a discriminatory decision by the federal appeals court to stand, the Supreme Court decision represents, as Justice Alito correctly concluded in the dissent, 'a serious setback for freedom of expression in this country.' And, we, like Justice Alito, hope this decision will be an aberration and not a shift in First Amendment jurisprudence."
The case involved a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit siding with the Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. Hastings denied official recognition to a student group – the Christian Legal Society (CLS) – after CLS said it could not abide by the school’s non-discrimination policy. That policy forbids student groups from discriminating on the basis of, among other things, "religion." CLS says its religious beliefs prevent non-Christians from exercising control over the group by becoming voting members or serving in leadership positions. By a one vote margin, the Supreme Court today upheld the 9th Circuit decision and rejected CLS's position.
In a dissent written by Justice Samuel Alito, and joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia and Thomas, Justice Alito concluded that the majority decision "is a serious setback for freedom of expression in this country."
From Justice Alito's dissent: "Our First Amendment reflects a 'profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open.' New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U. S. 254, 270 (1964). Even if the United States is the only Nation that shares this commitment to the same extent, I would not change our law to conform to the international norm. I fear that the Court’s decision marks a turn in that direction. Even those who find CLS’s views objectionable should be concerned about the way the group has been treated - by Hastings, the Court of Appeals, and now this Court. I can only hope that this decision will turn out to be an aberration."
In its amicus brief filed at the high court, the ACLJ contended that religious groups are constitutionally protected in following their religious beliefs.
"Religious groups by their nature embrace religious principles and, as a matter of organizational identity and coherence, will normally require adherence to such principles as a criterion for membership and certainly for leadership," the brief asserted. "This is not 'discrimination' but rather part and parcel of what defines them as religious groups. Wooden application of religious 'non-discrimination' policies therefore forces religious groups to choose between their religious identity and access to the forum. That 'choice' is an unconstitutional one between yielding to government intermeddling and no access at all. Far from a permissible condition on benefits, this is a choice that the government, under the Religion Clauses, has no business imposing on religious groups."
In public culture worldviews matter. Adherence to a perspective that promotes homosexuality is not neutral. It is derived from presuppositions that are religious in nature. ( Foundational Presupposition Chart ) In the Christian Legal Society v Martinez Supreme Court case, one religion has been preferred over another.
From 2 Kings 1:33
They worshipped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.
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