The University of Iowa has rightly been taken to court for restricting the religious liberty of its students. And the university will rightly lose in court.
As the College Fix first reported, the case in question has been brought by the university's Business Leaders in Christ student group. The group had its campus status revoked after refusing to appoint a homosexual man to a leadership position. The club argued that to do so would conflict with its religious opposition to homosexual conduct.
Those are the facts, but I'm truly astonished that the the university is not backing down, now that the case has been brought to court.
After all, the law is pretty clear here: Absent the most compelling of countermanding public interests, a public institution does not have the right to restrict citizen speech or religious rights as vested under the First Amendment. This principle of law has been proven in Supreme Court cases such as Rosenberger v. University of Virginia and Good News Club v. Milford Central School.
No such countermanding interest exists here. Moreover, it is logically and legally absurd to require a Christian group to appoint individuals who hold viewpoints fundamentally divergent from their own. In this case, the individual denied appointment was not denied that appointment because he is homosexual, but because he was unwilling to commit not to engage in homosexual conduct.
To be sure, many Americans might view that rationale for exclusion as unpleasant and/or immoral. It just 100 percent doesn't matter, because constitutional law requires public authorities to respect the right to assemble in shared religious experience. Absent that protection, religious freedom, which was integral to the nation's birth, would be rendered slave to the whims of those in power. In this case, the Iowa dean would become a dictator of student religious expression.
Whether liberal or conservative, gay or not gay, no American should be comfortable with that potential circumstance.
Regardless, the students here are in good shape. The law will ensure they prevail.
