In what has to be one of the worst and most misguided court rulings in the history of the United States, a Supreme Court ruling at the end of June which split the court on a 5 to 4 vote, has ruled that religious and non-profit organizations can be forced to allow voting members and organizational leaders that do not represent their faith or mission statement, and that are in fact diametrically opposed to their religious tenants, in a direct violation of the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion. The ruling means that the court and the government are completely overstepping their bounds and are acting well outside of their jurisdiction to interfere with religious expression,the right of assembly and association, and free speech to entangle itself with the governance of the church, and could undermined the entire constitutional protection of our rights and freedoms in the United States.

The court case, Christian Legal Society v. Martinez began in 2004 when the University of California - Hastings College of the Law denied students the right to assemble by refusing to recognize their local chapter of the Christian Legal Society (CLS) because, as a religious based student organization, it rightfully requires all voting members and leaders to be those members who adhere to their statement of faith which included a commitment to abstain from premarital sexual relations; which of course makes perfect sense for any religious or non-profit organization. Hastings Law School stripped the CLS of recognition and all the benefits thereof.

After school officials refused to respond appropriately to petitions to reinstate the groups recognition, the CLS, represented by The Christian Legal Society's Center for Law & Religious Freedom and the Alliance Defense Fund brought the suit which was eventually appealed up to the U.S. Supreme Court who upheld the lower courts erroneous verdict; falsely claiming that anti-discrimination policies trump constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and human rights.

The ruling, unfortunately, pits the country against itself by trying to frame this as an argument of sexual orientation verses constitutionally guaranteed religious freedoms because Hastings officials have tried to gain support for their actions by saying that sexual orientation trumps religious rights and since openly practicing homosexuals are in a direct violation of the CLS's Statement of Faith and therefore not eligible for positions of leadership or voting roles within the religious organization, they were then justified in denying them recognition.

The problem with this reasoning is simply that they are wrong. Neither they, nor the Supreme Court, have the power or authority to interfere in matters of faith. But this ruling poses serious problems for everyone, not just Christians or religious practitioners. Once we allow the courts to take away basic human rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and the US Constitution, how can we any longer call ourselves a free nation? And how many rights will there be left now that we are chipping away at them? This is not a “Gay vs Christian” debate, it is a constitutional battle that the CLS, whether you agree with them or not, can not afford to loose for all of our sakes. This disturbing ruling threatens to shake the very foundations of this country as we know it.