A secular war has been declared against people of faith, and our Western universities are leading the charge. I have documented numerous examples of how our higher education system is deliberately and regularly targeting people of faith – Christians especially.
It is getting to be the point that the most dangerous place for a Christian nowadays is on a Western college campus. It seems that the thought police, secular humanists, and forces of political correctness are doing all they can to stamp out any vestige of faith, and to hound believers out of town.
Consider the latest case of anti-Christian bigotry on campus, this time coming from Tennessee. The powers that be at Vanderbilt University have told Christian groups there that they will be in big trouble if they do not accept anyone into membership – even those who reject their statements of faith.
One write-up about this goes like this: “Christian student clubs [are] fighting for their right to continue existing as officially recognized campus groups. Losing that status could mean no longer having access to things like campus meeting space and college advertising outlets, which are essential to club growth.
“The groups affected include the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Christian Legal Society and Graduate Christian Fellowship. They were placed on ‘provisional status’ after campus officials determined that the clubs may be out of compliance with the school’s ‘nondiscrimination’ policy.
“A particular sticking point is whether Christian clubs have the right to require their leaders to share their beliefs and adhere to faith-based standards. For example, the Christian Legal Society is under pressure to change language in its constitution stating that ‘each officer is expected to lead Bible studies, prayer and worship at chapter meetings.’
“According to Fox News, the club already tried to negotiate with campus officials by agreeing to remove requirements for student coordinators to ‘strive to exemplify Christ-like qualities,’ among other things. But this latest demand threatens the club’s very existence and integrity, according to its student president, Justin Gunter: ‘At the point where they’re saying we can’t have Bible studies and prayer meetings as part of our constitution – if we go beyond that – we’re compromising the very identity of who we are as Christians.’
“Once again, this controversy seems to have started as a result of a cultural flash point revolving around homosexuality – the campus decided to review some 300 clubs’ constitutions , after an openly gay student reportedly complained that he was asked to leave a Christian club. About a dozen clubs were found to be in possible violation of the nondiscrimination policy.”
Hey, why are we not surprised that once again, the real source of anti-Christian bigotry here is coming from the militant homosexual lobby? These activists are probably behind the great majority of these attacks on Christianity. And once again spurious “anti-discrimination” policies are behind all this.
Jim Lundgren, Senior Vice President and Director of Collegiate Ministries for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA said this: “We love the university environment and we welcome all students and faculty into our chapter activities at Vanderbilt. However, it is essential that InterVarsity student leaders be committed Christians who understand their faith as they seek to lead their peers. No organization of any kind can survive without leaders committed to its basic beliefs.”
David French offers some telling commentary here: “A few things stand out. First, the university did what universities often do — compare Christian students to segregationists — but the students were not intimidated by the rhetoric. The comparison is offensive in the extreme. The vast majority of these religious student groups are open to all students without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, or even religion. Many of these students are minorities themselves and several actively work in racial reconciliation ministries. Yet they’re compared to segregationists because they want the same rights that every single off-campus Christian organization in America enjoys — the same rights the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed this year — the right to use faith-based criteria when selecting leaders.
“Second, the university was directly confronted with the contradiction between its purported ‘all-comers’ policy, which mandates that anyone can join or lead any student group, and its massive system of Greek life, with its gender-segregated, highly-exclusive fraternities and sororities. Such questions strike at the heart of the university’s argument and expose the political reality on campus: Universities are less concerned with ‘all-comers’ than they are with finding a fair-sounding policy hook to exclude orthodox religious viewpoints from campus. If Vanderbilt truly was dedicated to ‘all-comers,’ the fraternity and sorority system would cease to exist — as would gender-segregated intramural sports, men’s glee clubs, and any number of other campus organizations the university, students, and alumni deeply value….
“Something is happening in the American religious community, and these students are the tip of the spear. With dozens of churches facing expulsion from public property in New York because of Mayor Bloomberg’s nonsensical and punitive policy against religious expression, with Catholic and other Christian organizations forced to cover sterilization and birth control services as part of their insurance plans, and with campuses becoming increasingly hostile to religious organizations, we may be witnessing the birth of a mass movement for religious liberty. A nation cannot turn its back on its founding principles without a backlash, we are not a ‘post-Christian society,’ and these Vanderbilt students have now joined New York pastors and Catholic bishops at the vanguard of a defining cultural battle.”
The only good news here is that not every believer is simply allowing this ugly censorship and anti-Christian bigotry to go unchallenged. Many concerned students and some faculty have had the courage to directly challenge this discriminatory stance by the university. See this short video clip for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oopc3N3_LQs
Universities used to be a place of genuine inquiry and real freedom. Increasingly they are becoming hotbeds of bigotry, intolerance and anti-Christian jihads. Unless people stand up and be counted, things will only get worse.
http://www.citizenlink.com/2012/02/03/vanderbilt-university-won%E2%80%99t-back-off-discrimination-policy/
http://www.assistnews.net/STORIES/2012/s12020006.htm
http://www.citizenlink.com/2011/09/27/does-religious-freedom-still-exist-in-our-schools/
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/289970/vanderbilt-universitys-assault-religious-liberty-david-french
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