Friday, February 26, 2010

The Truth Behind Five of the Alliance Defense Fund's Lies

Lie #1: Forcing an evangelical student group to admit non-evangelicals or gays is the same as forcing the student democratic club to admit Republicans.

The Truth: Federal law has long recognized that discrimination based on religion, like discrimination based on race, sex and national origin, falls into an entirely different category than discrimination based on other factors.

Lie #2: The ADF is working to protect against religious discrimination.

The Truth: The ADF is a Religious Right legal group founded by TV and radio preachers that seeks to tear down the church-state wall and give preferential treatment to fundamentalist Christians.

Lie #3: Public colleges and universities are hostile to religion.

The Truth: Students at public higher education institutions are free to attend religious services whenever they want. Numerous religious clubs flourish on campus, and religious freedom is secure. State colleges should not sponsor religious activity or impose worship on students, but for those students who want it, there is no shortage of religion on campus.

Lie #4: The university anti-discrimination policy at issue in Christian Legal Society v. Wu restricts evangelical students' religious freedom.

The Truth: The university anti-discrimination policy merely requires all school-recognized and funded groups to be open and accessible to all students. The Women's Law Association must admit men, the Black Law Students Association must admit white students and gay and lesbian student groups must be open to heterosexual students.

Lie #5: Public colleges across the country are seeking to punish the free association of Christian students and limit the free expression of their ideas on campus. They don't want religious groups on campus.

The Truth: Religious student groups are welcome on college campuses, but must play be the same rules as any other officially recognized student group. Religious groups should not receive special treatment to proselytize or discriminate; if they want to discriminate, then they will have to forgo official recognition and funding.

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