Federal Court Ruling In Favor Of Christian Colleges Demonstrates How Showing Up Can Turn The Tide

America is a nation of many opinions and different beliefs about the best ways to live. That is one of America’s great strengths. From the beginning, our founders envisioned a society where different viewpoints could co-exist without interference from the government.

A federal court in Eugene (Oregon) has ruled this month in a critical ruling sided With Americans who still believe that vision. The judge dismissed a lawsuit This was an attempt to penalize religious colleges and universities that adhere to deeply held beliefs. This is a victory for Americans who believe freedom of expression and diversity in thought.

The lawsuit began in 2021, where, with the help of an activist attorney, a group of LGBT students at Christian colleges and universities sued the U.S. Department of Education, claiming that their colleges’ explicitly stated religious beliefs were discriminatory and harmful to them. Even though LGBT activists sued a federal agency, they were clearly targeting private religious universities and colleges.

Here is where things get a little suspicious. These colleges frequently state clearly on their websites and in their promotional materials their Christian beliefs and the expectations they have for students. All of the students in the lawsuit chose these colleges knowing they would require them to adhere to biblical sexuality standards. They then tried to punish the colleges for doing exactly what they wanted.

Because of how the federal government interprets “sex,” LGBT activists claim that any kind of different treatment on the basis of sex — including sex-specific dorm rooms, bathrooms, and locker rooms — is discriminatory under Title IX. That federal law, however, grants exemptions to religious colleges and universities, meaning that these colleges are allowed to hold their students to a standard of sexual behavior consistent with the colleges’ beliefs. These exemptions should not be granted to religious colleges because they receive public funds, according to the lawsuit.

By extension, this lawsuit implied that religious college students — and only religious college students — do not deserve the choice to attend a college that respects their beliefs. That’s wrong. It is wrong to punish Americans for their faith.

The intent of the lawsuit is to pressure the Department of Education into forcing religious colleges or universities to abandon their convictions. It did not identify the colleges named in the lawsuit. This meant that the colleges would not be able to defend themselves. The only group that would be defending the colleges was the Department of Education — and in the early stages of the lawsuit, the department did not look eager to do that. If the lawsuit was successful, it would have penalized religious colleges as well as young people who chose to attend them because of their faith.

That is unconstitutional, so Alliance Defending Freedom filed a request to be allowed to represent in the lawsuit a few of the Christian colleges targeted by it, because we were concerned that the Department of Education was not prepared to give a robust defense of religious schools’ freedom.

This concern was justified. The Department of Education was only going to present procedural arguments. They claimed that the lawsuit was unwinnable because of a technicality. The Department of Education did not intend to defend Christian colleges on merits. In other words, it didn’t plan to stand up for religious liberty aggressively. The Department of Education didn’t want us to intervene. It opposed the ADF motion for intervention. Only after the court admitted us to the case did the department present a defense of freedom for religious colleges, following many of ADF’s arguments in its briefs.

This case is one of many where activists seek to end freedom of conscience in America for all faiths. Our nation is founded on the idea that everyone has the right to live in accordance with their beliefs — and that the government should not punish people solely because of what they believe.

At the moment, however there is hostility towards religious organisations and individuals in this country. Legal attacks on individuals such as Jack Phillips And Barronelle Stutzman Faith-based adoption agencies are facing losing their licenses, and religious non-profits and churches are being threatened with losing their tax-exempt status. There is a national push to treat religious Americans like second-class citizens due to their beliefs. And the Department of Education may have let that happen — until some religious colleges and universities were willing to step up.

One person’s or group’s freedom of conscience is protected for freedom for everyone. The outcome of this particular case shows us that the first step toward protecting freedom is showing up — and sometimes, that’s

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