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I was going to go with a more "traditional" image of Jesus, but this painting, by Antonio Ciseri, 19th c. is called "Ecce Homo!" (Behold the Man!), and that was too good to pass up! (It depicts Pontius Pilate presenting a scourged Jesus of Nazareth to onlookers.)
Okay, this is crazy...
From a judgment made this week, and reported on AP news:
Court: Christian school can expel lesbian students
Posted: 01/27/2009 05:29:59 PM PSTRIVERSIDE, Calif.—A California appeals court has ruled that a private Christian high school has the right to expel students because of an alleged lesbian relationship.The 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside on Monday upheld California Lutheran High School's right as a private, religious organization to exclude students based on their sexual orientation.
Two teens filed a lawsuit claiming they were discriminated against after they were expelled from the Wildomar school in 2005 because of an alleged lesbian relationship.
A court in Riverside found that the school had the right to expel the girls because the school isn't bound by the same anti-discrimination laws as a business establishment.
John McKay, attorney for California Lutheran, says the school's goal is to educate children based on Christian principles.
The attorney for the girls could not be immediately reached Tuesday.
Would the school have expelled the students for suddenly being black (suddenly discovering African American Ancestry?) I think not.
Would the school have expelled the students for suddenly realizing they didn't believe in God after all and that they were atheists? I wonder...
But the school DID expel the students for suddenly realizing that same-gender attraction was a part of who they intrinsically are.
Now I suppose I could make the argument that you should be allowed to have a school whose goal was to only have people who believe in "A" attend. Anyone who believes something different would be excluded.
But should you be allowed to have a school whose goal is to only have people from one group attend? And anyone outside that group can be excluded? (i.e., no asians or blacks?) I'm really uncomfortable with that...
One problem with this is that kids generally don't choose their school themselves, their parents/caretakers do. And understanding and being true to your sexual orientation is often a process of unfolding that takes time and courage.
It seems really unfair that if a high school student growing up in a culture and a school that's pretty homophobic to begin with finds the courage to be honest about their same-gender attraction - and then, against all odds, finds another student who has been on the same journey, and they fall in love...
For them to be expelled seems cruel.
For the court to tell the school that it's okay for them to discriminate against GLBTQ students, for them to expel the girls for being bi, or lesbian, seems like a horrible precedent.
The issue of expelling the girls for WHO THEY ARE is the crux of this.
Maybe a private religious school can set up rules against dating for everyone (stupid and pointless though that would be) but to kick out kids based on their innate being is just plain wrong.
Now I did read the court's opinion (you can download it here.) Basically, they said that the school is like the Boy Scouts - because their mission is to instill the "values" of their organization, they can exclude anyone who doesn't live up to those "values," and it's legal.
I argue that it's not moral. It's not what Jesus would do.
And this is my problem with the Boy Scouts, too! Being Gay does not conflict with the core values of the Boy Scouts, trying to help kids grow up to be:
trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.
And it seems to me, being Gay does not conflict with the core value that Jesus taught, either, to have each of us:
reach out with love
But I guess the school isn't really interested in what Jesus would do.
What do you think? Did the court rule correctly? What about what the school did?
Watch for my follow-up post next week: How the girls were found out!
8 comments:
For other reasons I think the lawsuit has merit (as much as I disagree) but if the school labels their values as "Christian" they by god should qualify the type of Christian they mean - conservative, right-wing American Christianity. Because they and I have a very very different idea about our God.
I suppose I wouldn't have a problem with the government allowing private institutions to operate according to their "values" if our state and national laws and institutions were free from such influence. Marriage is a good example: The state absolutely should allow same gender marriage, but if a particular religious group chooses not to perform the ceremony I think it is within their rights. You make a good point, however, about these being minors who probably are unable to choose which school they belong to.
I went to a private Christian school. They operate in a weird state of limbo - basically, they can do whatever they want - because you pay to go there, and they don't HAVE to keep you there. A friend of mine who went to a different private Christian school was expelled for being gay.
I don't think students should be expelled for being who they are. But in a bizarre way I think that private schools have the right to do so.
I agree with all of the above,a nd think KELnino wrote it best. It's as Voltaire said: "I may not agree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." (Perhaps that example is a bit extreme, but the principle remains the same.) As a private institution in the US, they are bound to no one's "values" and policies but their own (and apparently Christ's, though they don't seem to be doing a very good job of that)...
Religious freedom has become religious righteousness; THEY choose to keep or reject YOU, rather than YOU having any kind of choice. This applies to parents choosing schools for their children as well.
I personally find it appalling and very detrimental, relative to the religious doctrine that this school claims to be trying to teach. Unfortunately, it's one of the consequences of our many freedoms.
And another vote in favor of the judgement. :/ I think that private institutions should be able to operate under their own rules. I may disagree with those rules, or even hate them -- and in this case I think they're pretty despicable -- but as a private citizen all I can do is vote with my dollars and whatever other support and choose not to send my kids there. If there are parents who agree with the school's values, then fine, let them send their kids there.
My first thought is that if I were a gay teen and my parents sent me to that school, I'd march into the principal's office and announce my orientation. They're going to be bigoted jerkwads? Fine, expell me, and I'll make sure the door doesn't hit my ass on the way out.
Yes, I know it's not that easy for actual gay teens, but it'd be a great FU to the school administration. :)
Angie, who has an even better story seed now.... [ponder]
As far as I understand court rulings so far, a private religous school can expell anyone they want for any reason they want. If they want to expell all black students, they can. Golf clubs still do this, except with Tiger Woods is in town.
It gets complicated once they start accepting govt. money. Many private religous schools are subsidized by tax payers. They recieve money for free and reduced lunches and money designated for title one students--low income, low achieving and special needs students. Some also get tax payer subsidies for textbooks. So far, none of this has forced them to admit students they don't want to.
Whether or not this is Christian some one else will have to decide.
If a kid's parents believed in a woman's choice to abortion and the child says that in school, is that kid next to be expelled???
Any non-Christian belief repeated by a child probably would get the kid expelled. Where does it stop? Can any other thing belief be used AGAINST a student and the discrimination is OK with the courts?
What is not OK with the courts? Christianity has been used against so many people because of the prejudice from the pulpit. Jews were expelled from Spain. Inquisition. Witch trial in US. Jesus was WHITE, etc.
Any institution that discriminates should not receive a single cent of public money. The rest of society should not support financially, discrimination!
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