A hyper-Political Correctness movement is running rampant on our public universities, with taxpayer-funded university bureaucrats and teachers trying to crush the First Amendment rights of students to openly express their faith and conservative political views. Students are reaching out to the top nonprofit pro-religious liberty litigators in America and exercise their God-given right to ask their neighbors and an independent judiciary to stop the universities.
For example, Vanderbilt University suddenly changed its student group recognition policy to demand that faith-based student groups remove any reference to their faith in the selection of group leaders. That's as stupid as telling the football coach to not time high school football recruits in the 40-yard dash before offering them a scholarship. Officials sent an e-mail to one recognized Christian student group, stating that the group's application to keep its recognition was deficient because the group's constitution requires officers to demonstrate a "personal commitment to Jesus Christ." The university demanded that the group eliminate that criterion.
What's wrong with these idiots? Whose business is it of theirs if a Christian, Jewish, or Muslim-based group insists that its officers actually believe in the tenets of the faith upon which that group is based? What do they expect, a Muslim group pick a Christian as the group president? And who made the university God anyway?
This story isn't unusual - universities across America are changing student group recognition policies, or imposing "Codes of Conduct," and purposefully discriminating against and punishing faith-based groups, especially Christian groups.
Time to go to court! The Founding Fathers experienced this type of heavy-handed discrimination against their faith at the hands of civil authorities, so they enabled us to sue the daylights out of anyone who steps on our First Amendment rights. The student groups are turning to the Christian Legal Society, the Alliance Defense Fund, and American Center for Law and Justice, and other faith-based litigation and religious liberty groups. These great organizations know that the civil justice system designed in the Constitution, and the God-given right to a civil jury trial protected in the 7th Amendment, are the protection and accountability system for all other rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights. The Founders used words such as "sacred" and "inviolable" to describe the 7th Amendment in state constitutions and declarations of rights.
And NO Founder wrote at ANY time of limiting or "tort reforming" any Americans right to take a grievance to court, whether the case was about religious liberty, free speech, or the loss of property or personal injury. Neither did the Founders differentiate between personal liberty and property or injury causes of action in their promotion of the civil suit in our Founding Documents.
That's why I don't understand the insistence by too many Republicans, and a few Democrats, that legislated federal limits on medical malpractice lawsuits is allowable under the Constitution and Bill of Rights. No complete, unbiased and accurate reading of the Founders' writings could come to that conclusion.
P.S. As I write, the Tennessee Governor has not committed to signing a bill that would protect the individual freedom of the Vanderbilt University students. Vetoing that bill would make a court case against Vanderbilt inevitable.
Comment
Comment by Roc29 on May 10, 2012 at 7:39pm Well, with that interpretation of the "all comers" policy I guess that fraternities and sororities now must admit anyone. How about a boy president of a sorority and a girl president of a fraternity?
Comment by John Liposky on May 10, 2012 at 6:39pm The founders left most responsibilities at the state level. Our representatives in washington gave or took that power and authority to the federal government. Chief among that is Medicare where hundreds of billions of our dollars are wasted on un-needed tests and procedures to guard against lawsuits. Everyone I talk to has a story about how money was mis-spent on them or a relative. Any excuse tor a MRI, EKG, ETC... just in case. Doctors and hospitals do get paid for all this so there is no reason not to. Every hospital in Mich seem to be getting a big addition or remodel and the more they spend the better for them. As long as the average person can afford their insurance premium, it will continue unless the tort reform happens nationally or the responsibility for oversite returns to the states. Even state requirements must comply with the federal guidelines so it's a national problem.
Comment by Michael Goodfellow on May 10, 2012 at 4:43pm As far as the university demanding groups remove faith criterion, wasn't that done in the wake of Christian Legal Society v Martinez, ultimately decided in the Supreme Court?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Legal_Society_v._Martinez
Comment by Michael Goodfellow on May 10, 2012 at 4:40pm I understand and agree with the opinion expressed in the piece. I have one question, though. Isn't Vanderbilt University a private school?
Comment by JMC on May 10, 2012 at 4:03pm Another front we have got to start fighting back against.
Comment by Chas Jones on May 10, 2012 at 3:25pm Demand "vouchers" that empower parents and legal guardians to make and fund all their choices about educating their children. Demand K - 12 "public" school districts reflect the choices of their voting citizens ... or close!
As to "higher" ed, even they MUST be made to account for their actions, especially for all illegal actions and policies.
Lastly, inform Alumni and the public EVERYWHERE that such institutions assume anti-faith based codes, rules, and policies. Let students, parents, and their pocketbooks decide.
Comment by Dan Hawkins on May 10, 2012 at 1:36pm This is an evil though an ugly truth of our public school system K-12 and and higher so called education.
The false idea that these institutions are needed as they are in their present form is like pandering to our Islamist Jihadist enemies- just plain wrong and dumb. Plus to go around wearing a college logo and going loopy over a college sports team is quite hypocritical of many in that the fraud and corruption in the sports at many of these institutions seems to be ignored.
I know I sound very anti school and in many ways I am when it comes to anything of public funded education.
I also know that a good many science and medical advances have transpired from these same institutions but I still desire the need of defunding the K-12 and higher education. Thank you Tea Party Nation and God bless you
Comment by KathleenSt on May 10, 2012 at 12:35pm Looks whose feeding students' heads. That should tell you why universities turn out poorly educated people.
Vanderbilt faculty think what is happening there is much ado about nothing and have no problem with it.
Watch this for their response. Therein lies the problem.
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2012/May/Students-Shine-Light-Despite...
Comment by Julia A. Berry on May 10, 2012 at 11:54am We cannot continue to roll over and go with 'the sticks and stones' approach.
Comment by Debrajoe Smith-Beatty on May 10, 2012 at 11:38am Thanks.
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