Judge Not

Ruth Malhotra, a 22-year-old conservative Christian and senior at the Georgia Institute of Technology, went to court last month to sue the school. Why?

A) She wants Georgia Tech to honor Sunday as the official Sabbath and have all activities on the campus suspended that day, including closing the library, not allowing the janitorial staff to clean and having all sports activities rescheduled.
B) She’s demanding that Georgia Tech revoke its tolerance policy because her faith compels her to speak out against homosexuality.
C) She’s demanding that the Georgia Tech student store stop carrying “lascivious” merchandise like cosmetics and perfumes because they promote promiscuity and aren’t compatible with a Christian lifestyle.
D) She wants Christians to receive a cut in their tuition because minority groups of other faiths qualify for financial aid and scholarships so easily.



ANSWER

B: Malhotra is suing for the right to be intolerant. She says her Christian faith compels her to speak out against homosexuality, but the Georgia Institute of Technology bans speech that puts down others because of their sexual orientation. Malhotra sees that as an unacceptable infringement on her right to religious expression, so she’s demanding the school revoke its tolerance policy.

With her lawsuit she joins a growing campaign to force public schools, state colleges and private workplaces to eliminate policies protecting gays and lesbians from harassment. The religious right aims to overturn a broad range of common tolerance programs: diversity training that promotes acceptance of gays and lesbians, speech codes that ban harsh words against homosexuality, anti-discrimination policies that require college clubs to open their membership to all.