As we blogged about, the California legislature was all set to pass a law punishing Christian colleges if they “discriminate” against anyone on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion. Colleges would be unable to set behavior standards for students and would have to hire faculty members who didn’t believe in the religious position of the institution. This would effectively shut down evangelical, Catholic, Lutheran, Muslim, and other religious institutions–or force them to change their teachings.
Due to the concerted effort of California religious institutions, religious liberty protests, political pressure, and widespread criticism, the legislator who proposed the measure has dropped the discrimination measure from his bill. Colleges would still have to report to the state any expulsions for homosexual behavior and any other invocations of the religious exemption. But for now, California’s religious schools have won an important victory.
From David French, A Crucial Victory for California Christian Universities | National Review:
Facing increasing opposition (including a multi-faith statement in opposition, a planned protest at the Capitol, and targeted PAC spending at the bill’s proponents) the bill’s sponsor has pulled the bill’s most dangerous provisions:
Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) is removing a provision of his bill that sought to take away the exemption of religious schools to anti-discrimination laws. Instead, he will press forward with the amended bill that would still require such schools to disclose if they have an exemption and report to the state when students are expelled for violating morality codes.
This is a victory, no doubt, but as noted above he still intends to push forward with legislation that “names and shames” religious colleges and requires them to report their disciplinary actions to the state. . . .
The lessons here are clear. Never surrender. Always seek to persuade. Prepare to protest. Exercise your constitutional rights and apply political pressure to the same extent that leftist activists do. When the California bill was first proposed, I spoke to social conservatives who simply presumed total defeat. Christians always lose in blue states, they said. The political battle was pointless, and only the courts could save us now.
Yet I’ve seen Christians prevail even on the most progressive campuses through a combination of persistent persuasion and vigorous activism. This same combination prevailed in California today. It’s not a total victory, but the difference between the bill as amended and as proposed is so vast that university leaders are breathing a sigh of relief.
[Keep reading. . .]
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