I am all in favor of teaching our children tolerance. It’s a really good idea for children to learn to accept people who are different from them in some way. However, there is a point where the search for tolerance becomes intolerant.
Breitbart.com recently reported that California State University has ‘derecognized’ the InterVarsity Christian Varsity fellowship as a campus organization on all 23 of the schools in the state system. So what is the problem?
The article reports:
On its website, IVCF states its “chapter leaders are required to affirm InterVarsity’s Doctrinal Basis,” which essentially recognizes God as the Creator of all things who exists in three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and the Bible as having been divinely inspired.
In other words, in order to lead the organization (which is a Christian organization), leaders have to affirm that they are Christians.
The article further reports:
The Christian group goes on to say that in August of 2013, new chancellor, Timothy White, granted religious groups a one-year exemption for the 2013-2014 school year, but has since affirmed that no further exemption will be made.
CSU’s policy states:
No campus shall recognize any fraternity, sorority, living group, honor society, or other student organization that discriminates on the basis of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, color, age, gender, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, or disability. The prohibition on membership policies that discriminate on the basis of gender does not apply to social fraternities or sororities or other university living groups. Student organizations shall deliver to the vice president for student affairs or his/her designee a statement signed by the president or similar officer of the local student organization attesting that the organization has no rules or policies that discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, color, age, gender, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, or disability. This statement shall be renewed annually.
According to this logic, any organization that requires its leaders to follow a certain set of guiding beliefs would also be ‘derecognized’ at California State Universities.
The article reports:
Stetzer (Ed Stetzer, writing at Christianity Today) states that, of course, the university may argue it is not banning or persecuting Christians.
“People can share their faith,” he writes. “But, now, what we once called ‘equal access’ has taken another hit–people of faith do not have equal access to the university community, like the environmentalist club, the LGBT organization, or the chess club.”
Stetzer said Greg Jao, IVCF National Field Director & Campus Access Coordinator, told him that, specifically, “derecognition” means the group loses free access to university rooms, costing the organization’s chapters $13,000 to $30,000 per year to reserve rooms, access to student activities programs and student fairs, and stature when the group engages faculty, students and administrators.
I wonder if Muslims are subject to the same rules? Do leaders of black organizations have to be black? Does the leader of the art club have to have some basic art ability? Does the leader of the music club have to be musical? This is intolerance in the name of tolerance.
