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Christian Legal Society v. Martinez

Posted by tom | Jun 29, 2010

Please join me in prayer as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship seeks discernment on the national and local scene regarding how the Supreme Court decision Christian Legal Society v. Martinez applies to our ministry.  InterVarsity has an article posted at http://www.intervarsity.org/news/supreme-court-decision-on-campus-ministry. 

Below are my initial thoughts on the case followed by some articles of interest.*  Feel free to share your thoughts/responses and article recommendations ...

We believe that the Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Association principles of the First Amendment provide that InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Christian Legal Society, and other campus ministries should not be forced to compromise our basic Christian beliefs in order to have the same campus presence as other organizations.  InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court decision fails to recognize this basic principle. However, over the next few days InterVarsity Christian Fellowship will be receiving further legal opinions on the ruling and its implications. The fact that the decision was remanded back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals also means that its impact is still not fully known.

When I served at Carnegie Mellon U, although the InterVarsity Undergrad Chapter was recognized by the campus, the Chapter did not receive money from the school because of the religious nature of the organization.  This stemmed from a policy that no religious groups receive funding.  Although the Chapter secured office space in the new student center in 1996 (Note:  they had office space in the previous student center), they were charged a monthly fee for the use of office space.

My becoming a member of InterFaith Council (as a member of InterVarsity staff) was quite challenging at both Carnegie Mellon and Pitt. That is a story for another time, but it is very difficult for someone such as myself to meet people on campus unless there is an official structure (e.g., InterFaith Council/Chaplain, officially recognized campus/student group).  Whether or not a campus ministry staff serves a campus group, it is difficult for a campus group to maintain itself over the long term if it is unrecognized and by such unable to advertise (except by "word of mouth" through unofficial channels) or reserve rooms (or have to pay for room reservations). 

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship chapters have an 'all comers' policy to our meetings, the issue of distinguishing comes not at the 'member' level, but at the leadership level.  In any organization, the leaders are to responsible for the purpose/direction of the group.  Unlike what we see in the opinion, groups (let alone the educational process) are not to be completely open to dialogue.  Yes, the campus provides opportunity for dialogue, but it also provides the ability to better understand/articulate one's own perspective.  Are Christians permitted to join a Muslim group in order to 'Christianize it,' anti-homosexuals allowed to assume leadership of a GLBT group in order to shut it down, atheists transform a Christian group to make in atheistic, etc?  At some level, participants, voting members, and leadership are to adhere to the policies of the group, i.e., not create disturbances which disrupt the speaker, allow the group to continue to seek it's purpose/direction.  Note:  shifts in the theology/direction of a Christian organizations can occur in subtle and/or dramatic ways due to variety of factors, e.g., consider changes in denominations, local congregations and Christian colleges.  The presence of Christian voices on campus is important. The Christian perspective should not be the only perspective that is excluded just because of its religious content or have the ability to be corrupted by not having the means to maintain it's focus/direction. There are important benefits to having InterVarsity on campus.
The university does a good job identifying where there are problems, helping students to maybe even care about them. But often we don’t have solutions to offer the students except maybe some new government program or something that isn’t very practical for students. InterVarsity fellowships are helping the university fulfill its mission even if it doesn’t know that InterVarsity fellowships are doing that. -- Mark Edwards, Oregon State University Sociology professor, quote from article currently posted at http://www.intervarsity.org/news/intervarsity-alumni-mark-edwards-.

As you know, God is powerfully at work on campuses across the country as you read this email (Note:  pray for the CMDA chapter at PSU-Hershey which meets for Volleyball and Bible study tonight). We're more interested in focusing on what God is doing on campus above anything else. Results in campus ministry have less to do with political and legal decisions and more to do with the work of the Word and the Holy Spirit in the hearts, minds, and wills of students, faculty and staff. To God be the glory!  Let's press on in the upward hope of Christian Jesus and pray for the opportunity to witness to the reality of the Kingdom of God on campus across the country.

An initial set of articles worth consideration include:

*Note: These thoughts do not represent the official positions of InterVarsity. InterVarsity’s official statement on the ruling will be posted at InterVarsity.org when it is available.

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