“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.

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.

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.

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

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

If you want more information on SUNY-Fredonia’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 SUNY-Fredonia, so that every student is free to exercise their First Amendment right to speech, whatever their opinion.

_____________
Resources:
SUNY-Fredonia Demand Letter
Know your rights:
Speech Codes
Speech Zones

Like a lot of schools, Montana State has guidelines for students who want to form groups on campus, but in this case the MSU Policy for Student Organizations limits your freedom by stopping your student org from choosing leaders that agree with your group’s purpose.

If you want more information on Montana State University’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 nondiscrimination policies and “bias prevention” policies are in place all around the country.  At Texas A&M the university denied Freshmen Leaders in Christ official status because it required leaders to adhere to basic tenants of the Christian faith. At Yale, a Christian Fraternity, Beta Upsilon Chi was denied status as well for similar reasons. Because Montana State University has this policy, if your campus group says that leaders must adhere to your foundational beliefs, you are in danger of being de-recognized as a student group.

What can you do?
Contact us at Alliance Defending Freedom. We would love to discuss ways you can help change these policies at Montana State University,  so that every student is free to exercise their First Amendment right to speech, whatever their opinion.
_____________
Resources:
Montana State University Demand Letter
Know your rights:
Speech Codes
Speech Zones

Like a lot of schools, Western Michigan has guidelines for students who want to form groups on campus, but in this case the WMU Registered Student Organization Handbook limits your freedom by stopping your student org from choosing leaders that agree with your group’s purpose.

If you want more information on Western Michigan University’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 nondiscrimination policies and “bias prevention” policies are in place all around the country.  At Texas A&M the university denied Freshmen Leaders in Christ official status because it required leaders to adhere to basic tenants of the Christian faith. At Yale, a Christian Fraternity, Beta Upsilon Chi was denied status as well for similar reasons. Because Western Michigan University has this policy, if your campus group says that leaders must adhere to your foundational beliefs, you are in danger of being de-recognized as a student group.

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

_____________
Resources:
Western Michigan University Demand Letter
Know your rights:
Speech Codes
Speech Zones

Earlier this month, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of Students for Life at Eastern Michigan University.  SFL is hosting the Genocide Awareness Project on campus in April and applied for student fee funding to help pay the costs.  GAP is a traveling photo-mural exhibit which compares the contemporary genocide of abortion to historically recognized forms of genocide.  EMU’s student government refused to provide any funding because it said the event was too “biased,” “controversial,” and “one-sided.”  When SFL pressed the matter, the student government pointed to an EMU policy that prohibits funding for any student event that contains “political or ideological” speech.

It’s hard to fathom any college student speech that doesn’t contain some political or ideological message.  Anyone who has walked around a college campus has seen the variety of advertisements for political and ideological events.  Indeed, EMU does provide funding for political and ideological speech of some student groups, but chose to exclude SFL from funding simply because the event, which contains a pro-life message, was too biased, controversial, and one-sided.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that public universities persist in maintaining these obviously unconstitutional policies.  Last year, Alliance Defending Freedom represented a student group at Texas A&M University after the university denied it funding to bring a socially conservative speaker to campus.  And just a few years ago, we represented the Badger Catholic student group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in a student fee lawsuit that lasted several years and reached the highest courts in the nation.

We hope EMU will do the right thing, like Texas A&M did last year, and resolve the lawsuit by removing the restriction on political or ideological speech.  If not, we’re prepared to go to the trenches and secure a lasting legal victory for the free speech of all EMU students.

Earlier, Travis Barham reported on the academic freedom aspects of this event.  Brooklyn College elevated the controversy when the school’s political science department agreed to co-sponsor the event.  Some argued that the college should have not taken sides in such a controversial debate, because official sponsorship by the school gave greater legitimacy to the anti-Israeli views, according to an article in the New York Times. Others said the public pressure raised questions about academic freedom of the school’s political science department.

BDS advocates make the controversial comparison of current day Israel and its treatment of its Palestinian residents to the apartheid regime that ruled South Africa and how it treated its black citizens.  They urge universities to “boycott, divest and sanction” Israel today as they did South Africa in the 1970′s and 80′s.  Many supporters of Israel strongly dispute that comparison to South African apartheid, by pointing out that Israel has the only functioning democracy in the Middle East, and treats its residents much better than many of the nearby Arab neighbors treat their citizens.

The event sparked another First Amendment controversy when campus security removed four Jewish students from the event.  It is not clear why campus security ordered the four students to leave. Some report that the Jewish students were not disruptive so that cannot be the reason why the security people removed them.   Campus officials are conducting an investigation of this event.

If the investigation finds that someone ordered campus security to escort the Jewish students out of the meeting because they disagreed with the anti-Israel views of the BDS movement, this incident raises serious concerns about an open marketplace of ideas on that campus, and whether the school protects the First Amendment rights of its students.