It’s hardly a secret that much of academia is populated by agnostics, atheists and others who simply dislike Christianity. Just look at the case loads of the pro bono legal teams that protect students’ religious rights. Or see the popular movie series “God’s Not Dead,” which has another episode in the works.
It’s an intimidating culture for Christian students, and a new case profiled by the American Center for Law and Justice shows just how far some anti-Christian activists will go.
This time, it was a professor telling a student to shut up about his faith and then reporting the student for harassment, even though he complied with the order.
The names of the student and professor at an Oregon community college have been withheld.
The student submitted an essay on friendship in which he referred to the close friendship one might have as a Christian with Jesus.
But wait, responded the professor, not everyone believes in God.
The student was told to shut up about his faith.
He responded by “respectfully” explaining in a written statement “that the reason he discusses religion with others, including her, is because he believes, based on his reading of the Bible, Christians have a responsibility to share their faith,” ACLJ said.
“The student, however, wrote that he would honor the professor’s request and cease personal religious discussions.”
The professor then told the student to shut up about his faith.
The professor’s next move was to report the student for “harassing” her.
In a potential disciplinary meeting with a college official “the student maintained his agreement not to address matters of religion with the professor on a personal level,” ACLJ said.
The official then demanded that the student not address any “matters of religion in any way in this professor’s class.”
Wait a minute, noted ACLJ, what about the First Amendment?
The school officer doubled down, demanding “the student must treat this particular professor’s class as effectively a religion-free zone.”
ACLJ, which routinely handles cases that move up to the Supreme Court as well as the European Court of Human Rights through its affiliate, suggested otherwise.
“We immediately issued a letter to the college’s administration explaining that students have a constitutional right to speak from a religious viewpoint, and, as courts have repeatedly recognized, such speech, when germane to the subject matter of an assignment, rather than constituting harassment, is in fact fully protected. Our letter demanded that the college retract the instructions given by the conduct officer and formally acknowledge the student’s right to respond to curricular assignments from a religious perspective,” the group reported.
The school “rightly agreed.”
