Living by a different law

[cbayer]

http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2014/11/higher-education-gay-rights-and-religion

Higher education, gay rights and religion
Living by a different law
Nov 7th 2014, 16:50 BY P.F. & B.C. | VANCOUVER



TWA

SO MANY religious-freedom arguments are about the entitlement of sub-cultures, often mildly idiosyncratic ones, to exist. In a way, every religious group is a sub-culture—a community of people who agree to impose on themselves certain rules of behaviour, whether in respect of diet, sex, grooming, attitudes to the body, or how to spend time and money. But how far do the rights of those sub-cultures go? Most of us can think of some "sub-cultural" behaviours which seem benign or harmless—fasting in Lent or Ramadan, for example—and others which horrify most people of a modern sensibility, such as the "circumcision" of baby girls.

But where do you draw the line? In western Canada, a looming controversy over a planned law course at a Christian college promises to be a fascinating test case.

Before attending a single class, students at Trinity Western University (TWU), which offers a broad range of arts and science subjects, must sign what the school calls a community covenant. This is a solemn pledge that they won’t, among other things, lie, cheat and watch porn. They also vow to abstain from premarital sex and specifically any sexual intimacy between people of the same sex. Critics call the covenant anti-gay; the school retorts that it's asserting its entitlement under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom to practise its beliefs. All this was an academic argument until recently; but it is coming to a head because of the university’s decision to begin a law school, which would accept its first students in 2016.

The school at Trinity Western, which is associated with the Evangelical Free Church of Canada, will break new ground in several ways. It will be the first private law school in Canada and it is the first law school in a Christian university. Canada now has a total of 22 law schools, three of them in British Columbia. Already the decision to train lawyers who disavow homosexuality (at least in their own lives) has created a rift among established law schools and the regulatory bodies in various Canadian provinces which represent lawyers—and could prevent a Trinity graduate from practicing. Ontario's Law Society voted against approving the school; the barristers of Nova Scotia granted conditional acceptance of the school but only if the covenant was dropped for law students or students were allowed to opt out—which is not currently the case.

more at link

[CJCRANE]

1. What consenting adults do or look at behind closed doors

is none of my business, or the government's or the churches'.

If you believe in God, then let God be the judge of all of our actions.

[cbayer]

2. But is it the business of a school that makes some requirements

up front and at which attendance is voluntary?

And how will lawyers from this school impact the current separation debates?

[CJCRANE]

3. Well, monasteries have similar rules, so they're probably within their rights.

It's just unnecessarily annoying of them to specify two types of celibacy.

[cbayer]

4. I fully agree that it is unnecessarily annoying, but I think it's wining their rights.

OTOH, I'm concerned about them putting out lawyers who hold these views.

[Warren Stupidity]

5. They can be as bigoted as they choose until they intersect the public sphere.

Which they did when they decided to open a law school. As the article makes clear, their gross religiously motivated bigotry conflicts with Canadian law school regulatory bodies. So the religious bigots can either comply or get out of the law school business.

[rug]

6. The law school will not get accreditation.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1218160948

[cbayer]

7. Ach, sorry I missed that. Great news.

[rug]

8. Well, your link says they're suing over the decision but i think they'll lose.

[cbayer]

9. Missed that as well. Heat is eating away at my brain.

If this is what hell is like, I don't want any part of it, lol.

[rug]

10. Summon a palm frond to be fanned.

[cbayer]

11. I would, but they all blew off in the recent hurricane.

Damn locals just can't seem to get them to regrow fast enough.