Note: This is an urgent guest post by one of our readers we are sharing this immediately given that this is threatening tolerance of Christian beliefs of the Bible.
By B Dub
Freedom of religion is a central feature of our liberties as Americans. It is a right affirmed in the First Amendment. Once a society starts stripping its citizens of their essential freedoms, including religious liberty, it cannot long survive as a free society. There is a bill in the California assembly numbered SB1146. It could potentially be very bad for California Christian Colleges and Universities.
As of the Time of this writing it has passed the California Senate and is making its way through the California Assembly and is being review in committees. As it is written now, it could cause real problems for religious institutions in California. Once it makes it to Jerry Brown’s desk, he is likely to sign it.
The advocates of the bill claim it as a non-discrimination policy, but it disallows religious institutions to uphold their beliefs. In this way it is in fact discriminatory. It says that religious requirements must be approved by the state. It could be a problem for a college enforcing their moral beliefs stemming from the religion. For example they wouldn’t be able to talk against homosexual marriage or abortion. This section in particular is biggest issue:
Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit discrimination on the basis of disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate crimes set forth in Section 422.55 of the Penal Code, including the perception that the person has any of those characteristics or that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of those characteristics.
As you can see, by the wording it claims to not be discriminatory. That couldn’t be further from the truth. By not allowing religious institutions’ freedom of conscious, it discriminates against their ability to enforce principles in accordance with their beliefs.
The whole text and history of the bill can be found here for reference and context.
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1146#content_anchor
Here is what several religious institutions in California are saying and how it affects them:
Concordia University Irvine: http://www.cui.edu/aboutcui/sb1146
Biola: http://now.biola.edu/news/article/2016/jun/08/preserve-faith-based-higher-education/
Western Baptist University: http://www.opposesb1146.com/
As well as another blogger talking about it.
What can be done?
Those of you in California contact your representatives. Even if you are not you can still contact them. Urge them to vote no.
If you don’t know who your representative is, you can find out here.
http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/
Tell your friends about this. Let the word get out about this and why this bill is bad news.
Also, prayer is always encouraged.
Here is a site with more suggestions on what to do.
https://wcbc.edu/oppose-sb-1146
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