Legal Rights of Professors - by Dr. Scott Luley

"I've been obeying laws that do not exist!"

The words above express one Christian professor's frustration after one of our conferences when he realized he had been "intimidated" into silence by his secularized campus culture.

Today, most Christians are confused about the rights of religious people to express themselves in public education. On university campuses, many radical groups and topics are openly and publicly "advocated" - except one!

Any mention of religion or God on public campuses is met by reaction and intolerance. The phrase, "separation of church and state" is used so often that even the Christians believe it -- and often fear its consequences. Deans and Department Chairs use "separation of church and state" as the reason for excluding Christians and their viewpoints from the marketplace of ideas. However, the phrase is clearly meant to intimidate rather than clarify the law.

In Wallace v. Jaffree (1985), Supreme Court Justice Rehnquist noted in his dissent,

The wall of separation between "church and state" is a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging. It should be frankly and explicitly abandoned.

For Christians, "free speech" is indeed not free at all. CLM has always encouraged Christians in the university to publicly stand strong for Jesus Christ so CLM's Free Speech Project was founded in 1985 to help Christians know: (1) What is legal and appropriate in communicating one's faith and (2) What to do when faced with opposition.

The Free Speech Project offers many resources helpful to Christians on the university campus. We offer a workshop using a videotape-discussion format that allows local hosts to benefit from the best experts at an affordable cost. If needed, CLM also offers legal advice and strategy from our advisory group of Constitutional experts and attorneys.

I strongly recommend that Christian faculty host our Freedom of Religious Expression workshop on their campus. It's a topic of interest to Christians and the discussion can help prevent many problems that would not otherwise be avoided.

Take advantage of what CLM offers. We focus on higher education and our staff are specialists who average 20 to 25 years of ministry experience in secular higher education. Take advantage of our expertise and our national resources. We exist to serve YOU!

If you want to host a Freedom of Religious Expression workshop, contact your local CLM staff director or the CLM national office (972-713-7130). If you have questions or comments about CLM's Free Speech Project, contact Dr. Scott Luley, Director of the CLM Free Speech Project. Phone: 609-258-0550. Email: sluley@clm.org.

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