It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

There was a compelling article in National Geographic last year that recently came to my attention.  It is about the plight of North Korean defectors attempting to escape from the brutal regime and the Christian missionaries who come to their aid.  (Don’t miss the haunting photographs that accompany the story).

One girl, only 15 and alone when she escaped across the Tumen River, fled because she felt she was a burden to her impoverished family and because she did not want to take a job that required her to read the propaganda of “Dear Leader” over the town loudspeaker.   One man who was converted to Christianity through his experience escaping from North Korea insists that he wants to return to his homeland one day to share the gospel, even though he could be shot for even carrying a Bible into the country.  He says, “When I read about street demonstrations in Seoul, I get so happy. If I did that in North Korea, I would be sent to prison.”

Sometimes, as Americans, it is easy for us to forget about or grow indifferent to the shocking loss of basic freedoms that millions of people endure around the world.  And as Christians, it is easy for us to take for granted the freedom we have in this country, and fail to take measures to protect it.  But as I’ve noted in a previous post, Thomas Jefferson was right when he said that “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”

One part of the story had a powerful impact on me.  Once North Koreans make it across the border into China, they are in danger of being arrested by Chinese police and sent back to their country, where they will face a 3-5 year sentence in a labor camp.  (If it is discovered that they were trying to escape to South Korea, they are charged with treason and are starved, tortured and sometimes publicly executed.)   But the words whispered among defectors who have safely made it across the border into China are “head for a cross.” It is known that churches will shelter and feed North Korean refugees, and often can connect them with Christian missionaries who risk their lives leading groups of North Koreans along the “Asian underground railroad,” a dangerous journey through China and Southeast Asia to freedom.

In this country, we should learn from the example of these Chinese churches, their witness, and their bravery, though they lack religious freedom.  Christians here should also stand for—and defend—freedom.  Our churches and ministries should strive to be a beacon of hope on our campuses, in our communities, and ultimately, in our country.  I pray that those who seek freedom here—whether it be freedom from censorship, oppression, cruelty, suffering, or sin—would also be able to find it by looking for the Cross.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) has wrongly declared that Trinity Western University (TWU) violates academic freedom because of its Christ-centered character.

CAUT bases its conclusion upon two facts.  First, TWU draws its faculty and staff from among those who voluntarily embrace its Statement of Faith.

Second, TWU “rejects as incompatible with human nature and revelational theism a definition of academic freedom which arbitrarily and exclusively requires pluralism without commitment, denies the existence of any fixed points of reference, maximizes the quest for truth to the extent of assuming it is never knowable, and implies an absolute freedom from moral and religious responsibility to its community.”  Accordingly, TWU “is committed to academic freedom in teaching and investigation from a stated perspective, i.e., within parameters consistent with the confessional basis of the constituency to which the University is responsible, but practised in an environment of free inquiry and discussion and of encouragement to integrity in research.”

CAUT has put TWU on a list of schools it says do not respect academic freedom and is investigating other Christ-centered universities in Canada, including Crandall University and Canadian Mennonite University.

CAUT acknowledges that TWU is a legitimate institution of higher education with qualified scholars.  It nonetheless has essentially deemed Christ-centered higher education to be pedagogically illegitimate.  This is a remarkable departure from precedent.  Many similar institutions have operated in the United States and Canada for many years with their distinctive conception of academic freedom.  The higher education establishment has accommodated and accepted the distinctive nature of such institutions, respecting their legitimate place in the tapesty of North American higher education.

I suspect that simple disagreement with (and probably even animosity towards) TWU’s religious commitments has motivated this unfortunate departure from the respect that the world of higher education has generally afforded Christ-centered higher education.  The notion that God is the source of truth and that He has revealed truth in Scripture is foolish and offensive to most university professors, who believe that the exclusive means for discovering truth is through empirical observation or rational deduction.  A disagreement over epistomology is hardly a reason to deem schools like TWU to be illegitimate. Yet this is precisely what CAUT has done.

What would you do if you found yourself face-to-face with injustice? 

An Iranian student named Mahmoud Vahidnia recently gave a new meaning to the phrase “speaking truth to power”.  During a question-and-answer forum at his school, Sharif Technical University, Vahidnia was given the opportunity to ask a question of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

That courageous student used the opportunity to criticize the most powerful man in his country to his face—a country that recently sentenced some individuals involved in the post-election protests to death, and is well known for jailing and torturing political opponents and critics (including students).

As the AP reports (h/t Candace DeRussy at Phi Beta Cons):

The session began with a speech in which Khamenei told the students the “biggest crime” was to question the results of the June 12 presidential election that returned hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power. Khamenei himself declared Ahmadinejad the victor despite opposition claims of widespread fraud.

After the speech, Vahidnia raised his hand, then for 20 minutes he criticized the Iranian leader over the fierce crackdown on postelection protests, in which the opposition says 69 people were killed and thousands were arrested.

In brief excerpts broadcast on state TV, the thin, bespectacled Vahidnia was shown standing behind a podium, gesturing at times for emphasis.

“I don’t know why in this country it’s not allowed to make any kind of criticism of you,” said the student, wearing a long-sleeved blue polo shirt and appearing calm.

“In the past three to five years that I have been reading newspapers, I have seen no criticism of you, not even by the Assembly of Experts, whose duty is to criticize and supervise the performance of the leader,” he said, referring to the clerical body that chooses the country’s supreme leader.

This young student has become an unlikely hero overnight in Iran.  Khamenei has the power to do virtually anything he likes to Vahidnia in retribution for his criticism, but faced with the rare opportunity to speak directly to this man, Vahidnia chose to use it to speak out for liberty, despite the potentially catastrophic costs.  What bravery.

We are extraordinarily blessed to live in a country where we do not have to fear imprisonment for questioning our leaders.  But we are not immune to injustice, and too often, we find that many students are afraid to stand up to abuses of power.   Unfortunately, most universities will not change their ways when someone simply asks nicely.  Instead, it often takes a lawsuit — in some cases, it takes multiple lawsuits – to get public universities to comply with the Constitution.  And even when there is no censorship by the government, there are many students who self-censor out of fear, and take their rights for granted.  (David French previously wrote about this problem here). 

Without students brave enough to stand up for their constitutional rights, we are powerless to do anything to defend against the increasing curtailment of freedom on many university campuses.  And without students brave enough to exercise their constitutional rights, the First Amendment will become meaningless on campus.

Vahidnia stood before the supreme leader and spoke up for freedom, despite the fact that it could cost him his life.  In this country, we may not fear death as a punishment for standing up to the authorities—but we stand to lose that freedom if it is not jealously guarded.