Colorado Christian University President Bill Armstrong |
A federal court has ordered the state of Colorado to stop discriminating against students of a Christian college, a facility that state officials determined provided too much religion.
The state for years has provided grants to students of secular institutions as well as students at a Methodist university and a Roman Catholic university, according to yesterday's opinion from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
However, students at Colorado Christian University, a non-denominational evangelical Protestant university, were banned from the grant program after state officials decided the school was too pervasively sectarian.
"We find the exclusion unconstitutional for two reasons: The program expressly discriminates among religions without constitutional justification, and its criteria for doing so involves unconstitutionally intrusive scrutiny of religious belief and practice," the opinion said.
"The … 'specter of government censorship' is present in this case, except that it has actually materialized. [State] officials testified that they demanded to see CCU's religious education curriculum, and (for reasons known only to themselves) determined it 'tend[ed] to indoctrinate or proselytize," the opinion authored by Judge Michael McConnell said.
The appeals court decision rejected the conclusion from last year by Judge Marcia Krieger, who said it was fine for the state, through its Commission on Higher Education, to evaluate religious and educational materials and then make determinations about whether they educate or indoctrinate.
State officials had argued in support of the discrimination, saying the ban was aimed at preventing taxpayers from paying for educational programs they may disagree with.
Nonsense, concluded the 10th Circuit.
First, the money goes to students, not the institution, the court said.
Further, "The line drawn by the Colorado statute between 'indoctrination' and mere education is highly subjective and susceptible to abuse. Educators impart information and perspectives to students because they regard them as true or valuable. Whether an outsider will deem their efforts to be 'indoctrination' or mere 'education' depends as much on the observer's point of view as on any objective evaluation," the court said.
"Anyone familiar with the varied reactions to the New York Times and Fox News knows how often assessments of objectivity and bias depend on the eye of the beholder. Many courses in secular universities are regarded by their critics as excessively indoctrinating and are as vehemently defended by those who think the content is beneficial.
"But when the beholder is the state, what is beheld is the exercise of religion, and what is at stake is the right of students to receive the equal benefits of public support for higher education, the Constitution interposes its protection. The First Amendment does not permit government officials to sit as judges of the 'indoctrination' quotient of theology classes," the opinion said.
Colorado Christian president William Armstrong, a former U.S. senator, said he's grateful for the outcome.
"We think that it's a great victory for our students but also for the First and 14th amendments," he told the Denver Post.
Students, he said, should not have to make a choice between their religion and getting government benefits.
The state had been issuing grants to students at Regis University, a Catholic school in Denver, as well as the University of Denver, a Methodist institution.
The exclusion of Colorado Christian University students from the state program "solely on the basis of the school's affirmation of Christian faith constitutes blatantly unconstitutional religious discrimination," said a brief filed by the Alabama-based Foundation for Moral Law.
CCU is fully accredited to offer a wide range of undergraduate and graduate degrees in education, business, music, the sciences, counseling and other majors.
CCU filed the lawsuit over the state's actions in 2004 as a result of legislation establishing a series of state-funded college tuition grants for Colorado students.
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