Thursday November 9, 2000
SUPREME COURT HEARS CASE AGAINST CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
Decision Against University Would be Active Anti-Christian Discrimination
OTTAWA, Nov 9 (LSN.ca) - An extremely significant case is being heard today by the Supreme Court of Canada. The case concerns the refusal by the British Columbia College of Teachers (BCCT) to approve the teacher education program at Trinity Western University because its code of conduct requires students and teachers to refrain from homosexual behaviour. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Seventh Day Adventist Church are intervening on behalf of the university while the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation and Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere are supporting the BCCT. Devon Frisen of Trinity Western told LifeSite that a decision on the case is expected in the Spring.
The CCCB motion says the College's decision is a "rejection of moral values based on religious belief; a direct attack on independent religious-based education; and an infringement of constitutionally protected rights of Trinity Western University and its students." The CCCB argues that since the Catholic Church's position on sexual conduct is similar to Trinity Western's community standards agreement, the BCCT's decision is also an attack on Catholic education. It argues that "the kind of secular intolerance to religious beliefs demonstrated by the College's decision would inevitably lead to unjustified attacks on the Catholic separate school system, including preferential hiring rights, particularly where the schools are publicly funded."
For background on the TWU case see:
http://lsn.ca/ldn/1999/jan/990105.html#1
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/1999/dec/99121004.html
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