Christians Sue for Right Not to Tolerate Policies

[Voegelin]

Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationw...ns10apr10,0,6204444.story?coll=la-home-nation

Suit seeks to overturn college speech code

 

[Manakin]

So... discriminatory attitudes are being discriminated against. I'm going to need a new irony meter, I think.

-M

 

[Voegelin]

No. Speech is being punished. Some, however, would like to go even further and have America adopt Canadian and EU laws which criminalize speech.

Christians should win this case hands down.

 

[Mandrake]

It looks to me like the case is about the university being obliged to fund a student organization which espouses discriminatory principles, and in that case I'd say that the university has the stronger position

 

[Harpuia]

I see the university having a stronger case here.

1) The STATUS QUO.

2) Intolerance of any kind in this day and age will not be taken favorably.

3) There are other ways that Christians have gotten to gays without being "compelled" to put them down that are far more effective.

 

[hernyaccent]

She does realize that these same rules that protect homosexuals from harrassment also protect christians from being harrassed? If everyone on a college campus is allowed to harrass everyone based on spiritual and religious beliefs they would have a war.

 

[burrow_owl]

Even the very obnoxious have a right to free speech, and hers was violated.

 

[setzie]

A stupid lawsuit. I can't see the student winning.

 

[kiwimac]

Ah how wonderful! What a Christian person!

Kiwimac

 

[hernyaccent]

Even the very obnoxious have a right to free speech, and hers was violated.

Except you don't have freedom of speech when acting as a representative of a college or university.

 

[charmtrap]

While I despise their message, these christian-types have every right to make themselves look foolish in public. Speech should never be limited because someone might get their feelings hurt.

 

[ACougar]

She does realize that these same rules that protect homosexuals from harrassment also protect christians from being harrassed? If everyone on a college campus is allowed to harrass everyone based on spiritual and religious beliefs they would have a war.

The extreme religious right has been fighting a war all along, the rest of the world simply hasn't taken much notice.

 

[burrow_owl]

Except you don't have freedom of speech when acting as a representative of a college or university.

She wasn't. The legal issues here are pretty clear; she was reprimanded due to the content of her speech. Such conduct by the school (a state school) is unconstitutional.

 

[Ampoliros]

Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-christians10apr10,0,6204444.story?coll=la-home-nation

Suit seeks to overturn college speech code

The article strikes me as a bit too jumbled - it bounces around between various topics.

Needless to say, if the woman is suing because the campus won't let her say things on-campus about homosexuals, she should win. As ridiculous as I think her views are, she does have the right to express them.

However, if she's complaining that she cannot speak out against homosexuality as a member of a club or organization, then she's wrong. She has the right to say all she wants whenever she wants - but speaking as an official representative of the university, she should most certainly follow the rules or can have her group's funding pulled.

 

[burrow_owl]

A member of a club isn't a representative of the school for first amendment purposes; they retain the right to speak freely.

(in keeping with this, a school can't discriminate on the basis of the views of the club when deciding whether to allow the club a charter)

If the girl isn't lying about what happened (a huuuuuuge "if", imho), she wins easily. Even nutjobs have rights to free speech.

 

[hernyaccent]

She wasn't. The legal issues here are pretty clear; she was reprimanded due to the content of her speech. Such conduct by the school (a state school) is unconstitutional.

She has the right to say whatever she pleases. However, if she is doing so as a representative of a school sponsered organization she has every right to be reprimanded.My best friend is president of the GSA @ his community college and even though he is 21 when they are on group outtings he can't drink. Point being there are certain rules to come with representing any school in a public manner.

 

[burrow_owl]

Schools can certainly regulate conduct, Herny, as long as it's done in a reasonable fashion that's applied evenly (for example, they may require certain people to "act as a school diplomat" or something).

They can't regulate speech, though. For instance, they couldn't prevent your friend from advocating a lowered drinking age.

Note also that your friend's conduct is regulated when he's acting as a representative of the school. That's a different thing altogether from a blanket ban on drinking, which would certainly be unconstitutional.

 

[wanderingone]

Why can't this woman and others like her comprehend you don't get to "teach" others to act according to your personal interpretation of the Christian faith?

It's ironic though that she sent a letter from a college political club berating those who organized coming out week by saying

"If gays want to be tolerated, they should knock off the political propaganda," the letter said.

Using her student political club to protest homosexuality and telling gay students not to politicize the issue is rather amusing.

 

[Vylo]

There are codes of conduct such as this on every campus I have been to.

At mine it was called "safe zone"

What this meant is that rules similar to what are listed in the article were applied whenever you were inside any building. Outside, however was a different matter. We had anti-homosexual preachers and everything come through. Of course, they didn't go over well with the students, and free-speech is a 2 way street. Many of them got flat out blasted, mostly by Christians too.

 

[crazyfingers]

Christians should win this case hands down.

Given that there are large numbers of Christains on both side of this, it would be more accurate to say that some Christains will win and other Christains will loose.

You do realize that it would be largely Christains who set the policies at that school?