The tide of religious persecution in our universities has reached yet another nadir. I learn today via Virtue Online here of this news report:
Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts has banned a Christian group from campus because the group requires student leaders to adhere to “basic biblical truths of Christianity.” The decision to ban the group, called the Tufts Christian Fellowship, was made by officials from the university’s student government, specifically the Tufts Community Union Judiciary.
The ban means the group “will lose the right to use the Tufts name in its title or at any activities, schedule events or reserve university space through the Office for Campus Life,” according to the Tufts Daily. Additionally, Tufts Christian Fellowship will be unable to receive money from a pool that students are required to pay into and that is specifically set aside for student groups.
There are various procedural pretexts for this hateful action. One of the bigots even posted (anonymously) a “justification” in the comments section at Virtue Online, which reveals the real intent:
Had the group dropped the “biblical truths” requirement, and adopted democracy, they could have still chosen leaders who shared their beliefs, albeit with a ballot and not discrimination.
The technique is becoming familiar.
All student societies are open to all students. Christians are a minority. Any student may be a member; so naturally the leaders must be believers. Otherwise a group of hate-filled non-Christians — and clearly we have some here — can gather a mass of drunken unbelievers in the bar, turn up to the vote, and simply take over the society in one go, and vote it into non-existence.
Precisely the same technique was used in the Exeter University persecution in England. The pretext is “anti-discrimination”, as a means to prevent the Christians on campus from having recognised groups and blocking their access to funds which Christians are obliged to contribute to.
I have written to the PR department for Tufts university to enquire whether the university endorses this action, and if not, what it proposes to do about it, and likewise to the president of the university. No university should allow vicious attacks on minorities like this.
I have also written a response to the anonymous persecutor on Virtue Online. It occurred to me, as I wrote that the “Christian groups on campus” not selected for persecution must be gnashing their teeth at being found unworthy. For persecution is the litmus test of sincerity. “Not all those who say, ‘Lord, Lord’…” after all, and “They have hated me and they will hate you”.
The Lord has allowed this persecution, I think, to make clear in the eyes of the whole university who is, and is not, Christian. Which is rather encouraging, isn’t it? Well worth the inconvenience.