Christian Law school looses accreditation because of homosexuality
Since the US Supreme Court legalized gay “marriage” last month, a number of people (including those of us at AiG) have been warning that legalizing gay “marriage” is only the beginning of an agenda. From what we’ve seen and know about the LGBT movement, the leaders don’t just want legalization of their immmoral behavior, but also want to force acceptance of this on everyone. They want everyone not just to tolerate their position, but to accept it while they themselves show intolerance for those who do not hold to their views. I encourage you to read this article from Canada, which we believe is a warning of things to come in the USA.
The article is titled, “Canada Court Denies Christian Law School Accreditation Due to University’s Rule against Gay Sex.”
It states, A Canada court has upheld the denial of accreditation to a Christian law school, holding the private school’s prohibition of homosexual behavior is sufficiently discriminatory that its degrees can be invalidated for that reason alone.
Trinity Western University is a 4,000-student, evangelical Protestant college in the Vancouver suburb of Langley. It has been seeking to open a law school, but has struggled to obtain accreditation in several provinces. This difficulty is not based on the school’s academics, but rather is based on outside objections to the covenant the school makes all students and professors sign. The covenant, among other things, forbids all sex other than that within heterosexual marriage, a rule opponents say discriminates against both gays and those who do not believe in marriage.
Based on the rule, the Law Society of Upper Canada, which governs bar admission in Ontario, refused to accredit the school, meaning graduates would not be allowed to practice law in the province. Trinity sued, leading to Thursday’s decision.
In its ruling, the Ontario Superior Court found that the denial of accreditation did violate Trinity’s freedom of religion, but that this violation was acceptable because of the greater good of protecting equality. Trinity tried to argue that its covenant was non-discriminatory, because it only governed behavior rather than beliefs or innate traits, but the court said that explanation wouldn’t fly.
Meanwhile, in the USA such cases as the one about the Oregon bakers continue to be a warning to where things are heading in this nation.
Fox News carried an article titled, “Oregon Silences Bakers Who Refused to Make Cake for Gay Wedding.” This item stated,
On Friday the state ordered owners Aaron and Melissa Klein to pay $135,000 in damages to a lesbian couple they turned away in 2013. The state also slapped a gag order on the evangelical Christian bakers—banning them from speaking publicly about their refusal to participate in or bake wedding cakes for same-sex unions. “This effectively strips us of all our First Amendment rights,” Mrs. Klein wrote on Facebook. “According to the state of Oregon, we neither have freedom of religion or freedom of speech.”
The commentator Todd Starnes stated, “On a side note here—I predicted that once gay marriage was legalized, LGBTQIA supporters would attempt to silence all dissent.”
Commissioner of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industry and vocal supporter of the LGBTQIA community Brad Avakian “has publicly stated his intentions to target Christian business owners who do not comply with his way of thinking. Here’s what he told The Oregonian about Sweet Cakes By Melissa in 2013: ‘The goal is never to shut down a business. The goal is to rehabilitate.’ Here we have a government employee who wants to “rehabilitate” Christian business owners like the Kleins. How exactly does Avakian plan on purging their religious beliefs? Is the state of Oregon running a reeducation camp? Or maybe they prefer to use shock therapy.”
The LGBT movement has been emboldened by the Supreme Court decision—which was a result of one judge (a “swing vote”) deciding which way the decision went (5–4). A war has now been unleashed on the free exercise of Christianity in this nation—it’s just beginning.
The article is titled, “Canada Court Denies Christian Law School Accreditation Due to University’s Rule against Gay Sex.”
It states, A Canada court has upheld the denial of accreditation to a Christian law school, holding the private school’s prohibition of homosexual behavior is sufficiently discriminatory that its degrees can be invalidated for that reason alone.
Trinity Western University is a 4,000-student, evangelical Protestant college in the Vancouver suburb of Langley. It has been seeking to open a law school, but has struggled to obtain accreditation in several provinces. This difficulty is not based on the school’s academics, but rather is based on outside objections to the covenant the school makes all students and professors sign. The covenant, among other things, forbids all sex other than that within heterosexual marriage, a rule opponents say discriminates against both gays and those who do not believe in marriage.
Based on the rule, the Law Society of Upper Canada, which governs bar admission in Ontario, refused to accredit the school, meaning graduates would not be allowed to practice law in the province. Trinity sued, leading to Thursday’s decision.
In its ruling, the Ontario Superior Court found that the denial of accreditation did violate Trinity’s freedom of religion, but that this violation was acceptable because of the greater good of protecting equality. Trinity tried to argue that its covenant was non-discriminatory, because it only governed behavior rather than beliefs or innate traits, but the court said that explanation wouldn’t fly.
Meanwhile, in the USA such cases as the one about the Oregon bakers continue to be a warning to where things are heading in this nation.
Fox News carried an article titled, “Oregon Silences Bakers Who Refused to Make Cake for Gay Wedding.” This item stated,
On Friday the state ordered owners Aaron and Melissa Klein to pay $135,000 in damages to a lesbian couple they turned away in 2013. The state also slapped a gag order on the evangelical Christian bakers—banning them from speaking publicly about their refusal to participate in or bake wedding cakes for same-sex unions. “This effectively strips us of all our First Amendment rights,” Mrs. Klein wrote on Facebook. “According to the state of Oregon, we neither have freedom of religion or freedom of speech.”
The commentator Todd Starnes stated, “On a side note here—I predicted that once gay marriage was legalized, LGBTQIA supporters would attempt to silence all dissent.”
Commissioner of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industry and vocal supporter of the LGBTQIA community Brad Avakian “has publicly stated his intentions to target Christian business owners who do not comply with his way of thinking. Here’s what he told The Oregonian about Sweet Cakes By Melissa in 2013: ‘The goal is never to shut down a business. The goal is to rehabilitate.’ Here we have a government employee who wants to “rehabilitate” Christian business owners like the Kleins. How exactly does Avakian plan on purging their religious beliefs? Is the state of Oregon running a reeducation camp? Or maybe they prefer to use shock therapy.”
The LGBT movement has been emboldened by the Supreme Court decision—which was a result of one judge (a “swing vote”) deciding which way the decision went (5–4). A war has now been unleashed on the free exercise of Christianity in this nation—it’s just beginning.
