FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION.

There has been a concerted attempt at some
British universities
to have the Christian Union
banned from their campuses. The ostensible
justification for this is that because 'CU's will
only allow believing Christians to act in a
leadership capacity this contravenes equal
opportunies legislation.

'CU's are affiliated with UCCF which has an
evangelical basis of faith open to public
scrutiny so one one is under any illusion
about what they believe and there is no
confusion about their purpose. It is entirely
reasonable to expect the leaders to share
these principles and if someone does not
they are entirely at liberty to join or create
another group more in tune with their beliefs.
I wouldn't be eligible to lead a university
'Islamic Society' but I don't feel my human
rights have been infringed. There needs to
be a good dose of common sense injected
into some of our academic circles.

The use of laudable anti-discriminatory
sanctions in this way will only discredit this
process. The suspicion is that those forcing
the issue have another agenda. On their
argument one would logically expect
the various student political groups also to be
banned on the basis that they too do not allow
those of opposing beliefs onto their executive
committees either.

The only purpose these actions can serve is to
hinder the lawful association and activities of
Christian students. In case someone suggests
that the use of the term 'Christian' is some
sort of ruse to subvert legitimate anti-racist
policies and de facto means 'all white', I would
point out that the vast majority of the world's
Christians are not of European origin they are
African and Asian! I would go so far as to say
that, properly understood, Christianity is one
of the few trans racial groupings you will find
on campus!

If you are in sympathy with my comments and
if you are a UK citizen then why not sign a
petition on the "No 10" website to that effect?
It will only take a minute... the link is...
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/culeaders
and please forward this blog to any interested
parties as a matter of urgency.

If you are not a UK citizen then do pray for the
witness of the church here which is being
squeezed by the forces of intolerance
masquerading as something else.