{"id":6122,"date":"2010-04-22T00:01:11","date_gmt":"2010-04-22T00:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2010\/04\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-11.html"},"modified":"2010-04-22T00:01:11","modified_gmt":"2010-04-22T00:01:11","slug":"law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/04\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-11.html","title":{"rendered":"Law at the Jesus Creed: David Opderbeck"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lawbook.jpg\"<\/a><\/span> — Law and Mission?<\/p>\n

This past Monday, the case of Christian Legal Society v. Martinez<\/i><\/a> was argued<\/a> before the United States Supreme Court.  <\/span>The case arises out of the refusal of the University of California, Hastings Law School to recognize a local Christian Legal Society<\/a> chapter as an official registered student organization.  <\/span>As described in the CLS’ Brief<\/a>, at U.C. Hastings,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

RSOs are entitled to meet in university rooms, to apply for funding to support various group activities, and to access multiple channels for communicating with students and faculty–including posting on designated bulletin boards, sending mass emails to the student body, distributing material through the Student Information Center, appearing on published lists of student organizations, and participating in the annual Student Organizations Fair.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

The CLS requires members to affirm a basic Christian statement of faith and to seek to live a Christian lifestyle, including avoiding sexual practices believed to be inconsistent with Christian faith.  <\/span>U.C. Hastings found that these membership standards violated the school’s non-discrimination policy, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion or sexual orientation, because the CLS’ standards would prohibit gay students from joining the organization as members or leaders.  <\/span>CLS argued that this action violated the U.S. Constitution’s free speech and free exercise of religion clauses.  <\/span>A broad range of Christian organizations filed amicus briefs in support of the CLS, and the case was argued on CLS’ behalf by Stanford law professor Michael McConnell<\/a>, a highly distinguished scholar and jurist.<\/p>\n

What have you heard about the CLS v. Martinez<\/i> case?  <\/span>How do you think the Court should rule?<\/b><\/p>\n

What do you think about the missional implications of the Martinez<\/i> case?  <\/span>Should Christian groups litigate to obtain government recognition and benefits?  <\/span>What place should such litigation occupy in the context of the missio Dei<\/i>?<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I confess that as a legal scholar and a missional Christian,
\nI feel conflicted about this case. 
\n<\/span>On the one hand, U.C. Hastings’ policy seems to represent political
\ncorrectness run amok.  <\/span>In
\na recent interview<\/a>, the U.C. Hastings Dean suggested that, under the
\nschool’s non-discrimination policy, the Black Law Students’ Association would
\nhave to admit KKK members and the B’nai B’rith chapter would have to admit
\nMuslims.  <\/span>Presumably the Muslim Law
\nStudents Association would have to admit Christians, and so on.  <\/span>As Justice Antonin Scalia observed
\nduring oral argument, “It is so
\nweird to require the campus Republican Club to admit Democrats, not just to
\nmembership, but to officership. . . To require this Christian society to allow
\natheists not just to join, but to conduct Bible classes, right? That’s
\ncrazy.”<\/i><\/p>\n

Moreover, I think the CLS and its amici probably have the
\nbetter side of the legal arguments on the establishment clause and free speech
\nissues.  <\/span>Religion occupies a unique
\nplace in our Constitutional order. 
\n<\/span>We should be very wary of policies that would require religious
\norganizations to give up their core distinctives in order to participate
\nequally in the public square with other organizations.<\/p>\n

Without doubt, a ruling in favor of U.C. Hastings could
\njeopardize not only ministry organizations that operate on secular university
\ncampuses, but also religious educational institutions, such as Christian
\ncolleges, that benefit in some way from federal funds.  <\/span>This case could represent a substantial
\nwedge between access to government benefits and religious organizations that
\nadhere to “discriminatory” views of human sexuality or belief in God.  <\/span>It is not entirely unreasonable –
\nalthough it would be many steps removed from the Martinez<\/i> case – to envision a world in which religious people who
\nhold traditional views about God and sexuality would be precluded from access
\nto public programs such as public safety, health and disability benefits.  <\/span>This of course happens in many parts of
\nthe world today.<\/p>\n

And yet, what bothers me is that this particular case is
\nabout official government recognition and access to government funding for a
\nlocal extension of the Church. 
\n<\/span>U.C. Hastings is not seeking to prohibit Christians from meeting
\ntogether or from expressing their personal views.  <\/span>Rather, the school is withholding official recognition and
\naccess to the funds and facilities that are available to recognized student
\norganizations.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Why do we expect Caesar to favor the ekklesia<\/i>?  <\/span>Why does it
\nseem so easy for us to mobilize resources all the way to the Supreme Court when
\nthe issue involves preserving Christianity’s historical privileges in American
\npolitical culture?  <\/span>Why should an
\norganization like the Christian Legal Society fight so hard for official status
\nand the paltry funds that accompany that status?  <\/span><\/p>\n

It also bothers me, to be honest, that this case seems to
\nrepresent another round in the war between evangelicals and homosexuals.  <\/span>As I’ve said on this blog before, I am
\nnot a revisionist concerning Christian sexual ethics.  <\/span>(My views on Christian sexual ethics are similar to those
\nexpressed by Richard Hays in his book The
\nMoral Vision of the New Testament<\/a>). 
\n<\/span>However, I deeply regret the animosity between evangelicals and the gay
\ncommunity.  <\/span>Although the CLS is not
\nan “anti-gay” organization, I wonder about pursuing litigation that in the
\npublic mind inevitably will represent another titanic clash between Christians
\nand gays. <\/p>\n

I have great respect for the people involved in the CLS’
\ncase, so my questions shouldn’t be taken negatively.  <\/span>For me, this case raises a tension between older models of
\ncultural engagement, which prize high-level constitutional litigation, with a missional
\nperspective that views the Church in American society as a community in exile.  <\/span>I hope the Court rules in CLS’ favor,
\nbut in my heart I wish the dispute had been resolved by some other means.<\/p>\n


<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

— Law and Mission? This past Monday, the case of Christian Legal Society v. Martinez was argued before the United States Supreme Court.  The case arises out of the refusal of the University of California, Hastings Law School to recognize a local Christian Legal Society chapter as an official registered student organization.  As described in the CLS’ Brief, at U.C. Hastings,   RSOs are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-law"],"yoast_head":"\nLaw at the Jesus Creed: David Opderbeck - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2010\/04\/law-at-the-jesus-creed-david-o-11.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Law at the Jesus Creed: David Opderbeck - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"— Law and Mission? This past Monday, the case of Christian Legal Society v. Martinez was argued before the United States Supreme Court.  The case arises out of the refusal of the University of California, Hastings Law School to recognize a local Christian Legal Society chapter as an official registered student organization.  As described in the CLS’ Brief, at U.C. 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