A pair of bold proclamations in professional sports perfectly define the double standard in which the right of free speech is viewed in popular culture today. Tim Tebow was often ridiculed for openly sharing his Christian lifestyle and told to keep it to himself. Jason Collins was declared a hero for declaring his homosexuality. What’s worse is that Christians have allowed this to happen.

“Announcing that you’re Christian is like announcing that you like cheeseburgers. Sure, there might be one or two people that will look down on you for eating meat, but on the whole, everyone loves cheeseburgers.” This statement, made by a believer, is a common sentiment among Christians today. Too many Christians in the U.S. don’t recognize that they are not the home team any more. Whether it is through “turn the other cheek” tolerance or simple complacency, believers have done little to shore up the slow erosion of their First Amendment Rights.

Perhaps Christian inaction is due to the nature of the attacks on free speech. The methods are more misdirection than brute force and have succeeded in gradually chipping away the foundation of rights Christians once thought unassailable. Most often the terms “tolerance” and “politically correct” are used by organizations who are systematically clamping down on free speech. Don’t pronounce your faith in Jesus, you might offend somebody.  Call a sin a sin in the school commons and you will likely be accused of using Hate Speech. Colleges and Universities across the U.S. have, intentionally or not, removed the “Free” from “Speech” so that no one is offended.

But there are a few students who are pushing back. Just last March Jacob Dagel, a community college student in Iowa, spoke up. He found that the college was going to pay for students to attend Iowa Governor’s Conference on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Youth. As a Christian he viewed this as wrong, printed fliers and began to pass them out around the school. But Jacob was quickly confronted by campus security. He was told he was free to practice his first amendment rights…as long as he obtained a permit 10 days in advance and remained in the “Free Speech Zone.” Where in the constitution does it say that you must first obtain a permit to practice free speech? But Jacob was bold. He did seek out this fortress of democracy called the “Free Speech Zone.” Unfortunately, it turned out to be a single table in the Student Center.

Jacob recognized that his rights were being violated and he reached out to Alliance Defending Freedom. ADF Attorneys were able to convince the college that the policies were unconstitutional and should be changed.

Jacob’s case is not unique. On campuses across the country students have begun speak up and take back their rights to religious liberty and free speech, often with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom. If you think your Constitutionally protected free speech rights have been violated, contact us and perhaps we can help insure your voice gets heard.

Activists are seeking to purge evangelist and pastor Greg Laurie of California from leading the National Day of Prayer event May 2 in Washington, D.C.  His offense?  Laurie has preached that the Bible defines marriage as one man and one woman, and that homosexual conduct is outside God’s design.

The National Day of Prayer was created by Congress and signed into law by President Harry Truman in 1952.  Its purpose is “to mobilize prayer in America and to encourage personal repentance and righteousness in the culture.”  The United States has a long tradition of presidents calling for days of prayer for the nation, and Congress formalized this practice to happen annually on the first Thursday in May. Mrs. Shirley Dobson is the chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force.

This year, the National Day of Prayer Task Force selected Greg Laurie as its 2013 Honorary Chairman.  Laurie is senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California.  Pastor Laurie has also lead many evangelistic rallies, called Harvest Crusades, where thousands of people hear him preach the Gospel of Christ at large stadiums.

But activists have ignored all of the good Laurie has done in his life and focused only on what they disagree with:  his preaching of the Bible’s views on marriage.  The activists are seeking to impose a theological litmus test on anyone who prays at public events.  Agree with our views, or we hound you to the outskirts of society.  So much for their alleged commitment to diversity and tolerance.

A similar uproar occurred earlier this year, when activists successfully banished Pastor Louie Giglio of Passion City Church in Atlanta from praying at President Obama’s Second Inauguration due to a sermon he had preached 15 years earlier on marriage and the Bible’s prohibitions on homosexual conduct.  Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California also endured similar criticism when he was selected to pray at President Obama’s First Inauguration in 2009, but the President allowed him to pray, in spite of his views on marriage.

Pastor Laurie is standing resolute, and is expecting to pray at the National Day of Prayer gathering in Washington, D.C. on May 2.  And I am sure Laurie will be praying for God’s blessings on his opponents.

What is going on at the University of Buffalo? And what is the pro-life community doing about it?

By Catherine Glenn Foster, Alliance Defending Freedom Litigation Counsel

This week, a pro-abortion professor went berserk on campus, railing at police officers and pro-life students until she was dragged away in handcuffs.  She claimed that their pro-life display was “profane” and that the images were “swearing” to her. As she screamed at the students, she yelled, “Where does it say I can’t use the f*** word in public. I can swear because that’s part of my vocabulary.” Apparently that was the most logical argument she could muster to combat the growing culture of life.

Other fringe professors wrote to “condemn” the pro-life display, calling it “crass.” They proceeded to equate pro-life students to a lynch mob, apparently missing the irony of labeling as murderers the students least likely to engage in murder.

Pro-abortion protesters accused pro-life students of hate speech and terrorism. They plastered up signs with the face of the University of Buffalo Students for Life (UBSFL) president, and the words “Indecency. Ignorance. Intolerance.” One protestor even told him that he “should have been the preborn baby on the board, decimated.”

Appalling, yes. But this is just the latest chapter in the publicly funded University of Buffalo’s dubious track record when it comes to protecting the First Amendment rights of pro-life students.

It took them ten months to finally grant the University of Buffalo Students for Life (UBSFL) group preliminary club status.

In May 2011, UBSFL’s Cemetery of the Innocents Display of crosses was vandalized – once, and again, and again. Each time, the crosses were pulled up, and crude messages such as “LOL Babies” were scrawled alongside.

In October 2011, another Innocents Display on the University of Buffalo campus was ripped apart by pro-abortion vandals. Arrests were made, but the next day a mob of angry women tore the crosses up yet again.

And in 2012, the UB Amnesty International chapter excluded pro-life students from a human rights event.

What would happen if pro-life students even thought about using the language hurled their way by grown-ups who are supposed to be educating them?

As Paul Ryan recently declared, “Yes, our side is held to a higher standard. But we’ve bound ourselves to a higher standard. The right to life is a higher standard. And it’s one we should be proud of.”

And so, pro-life students and adults will not “sing a little louder” to drown out the cries of the oppressed. We will not be afraid to speak truth to power. We will not be cowed into submission by the rantings of an Ivory Tower, pro-abortion professor.

We will shed light on the dirty secrets and atrocities of abortion businesses nationwide. “We are winning the debate on inclusion and the Right to Life.” We are the pro-life generation. And we will lift our voices with the truth.

Many universities across the country have unconstitutional policies that police your speech and prevent you from freely gathering on campus, and the Montclair State University (MSU) handbook is a prime example. MSU’s “Bias Response Taskforce” and  harassment policies are so broad that you are in danger of punishment for passing comments you make on or off campus.

If you want more information on MSU’s  polices and why they’re unconstitutional, check out our letter to the university here.

Why does this matter to you?
Maybe you’ve never run into problems with this policy, maybe you have. Similar speech code and “bias prevention” policies are in place all around the country, and they’ve led to students being harshly punished for simply speaking up about their beliefs. At Augusta State University, professors required graduate student, Jennifer Keeton, to take remedial diversity training to stay in her counseling program just for sharing her Christian beliefs in class and on campus.

But this isn’t only happening at one school. In Washington,  Spokane Community College wanted to expel Beth Sheeran for sponsoring a pro-life awareness event because it was considered a “bias incident.” Stories like this occur every day, all around the United States.

What can you do?
Contact us at Alliance Defending Freedom. We would love to discuss ways you can help change these policies at Montclair State University, so that every student is free to exercise their First Amendment right to speech, whatever their opinion.

_____________
Resources:
Montclair State University Demand Letter
Know your rights:
Speech Codes
Speech Zones

The student handbook at any university might not be a real page-turner, but there are some policies at the Grand Valley State University that you should definitely be aware of. GVSU has a “Bias Incidents” policy that limits your freedom to express yourself on campus.  Grand Valley’s policy is a speech code, and it says that if you make a fellow student feel “belittled” or “disrespected” you could be reported to university authorities.

If you want more information on Grand Valley’s polices and why they’re unconstitutional, check out our letter to the university here.

Why does this matter to you?
Maybe you’ve never run into problems with this policy, maybe you have. Similar speech code and “bias prevention” policies are in place all around the country, and they’ve led to students being harshly punished for simply speaking up about their beliefs. At Augusta State University, professors required graduate student, Jennifer Keeton, to take remedial diversity training to stay in her counseling program just for sharing her Christian beliefs in class and on campus.

But this isn’t only happening at one school. In Washington,  Spokane Community College wanted to expel Beth Sheeran for sponsoring a pro-life awareness event because it was considered a “bias incident.” Stories like this occur every day, all around the United States.

What can you do?
Contact us at Alliance Defending Freedom. We would love to discuss ways you can help change these policies at Montclair State University, so that every student is free to exercise their First Amendment right to speech, whatever their opinion.

_____________
Resources:
Grand Valley State University Demand Letter
Know your rights:
Speech Codes
Speech Zones