Regarding the court case and legal implications
As far as this court case goes, I actually hope the religious nutters win. The first Amendment isn't around to protect that funny joke you heard last week, or your favorite love-song; It's there to protect unpopular, inflammatory, or down right un-informed lame brained moronic speech, which is certainly what we're seeing here. Moreover I believe this is a public university we're talking about, and generally I'm against any organization taking federal funding and then breaking the spirit of the bill of rights - it just doesn't make good sense.
So please, by all means let this woman and here cohorts say all the ridiculously bigoted and myopic things they'd like too, and let them use the campus of any public university to do so. Besides, it's a lot easier to figure out who these landmines of backward bigoted values and rhetoric are when they're allowed to announce their poor up-bringing manners and good sense at the top of their lungs in a public place.
I'm reminded of one of my own early attempts to come out to an acquaintance at school who turned out to be batshit insane when it comes to what should really be a fairly trivial matter of who I like to date - the result being some rather obvious anonymous death threats over the course of the next few weeks. Had he felt he was in a place more open to allowing him to make it openly know that he rejects the idea of civilized discourse or peaceful co-existence with his fellow man, or common decency then perhaps I would have known ahead of time not to mistake him for a reasonable human being who can function in society. (incidentaly my school was not publicly funded, but did have policies against being a complete asshole in front of others - so no big hate-speach rallies or harassment of other students were allowed).
This works, both ways, though. The article brings up the boyscouts, who rely heavily on hand-outs from local, State, and even the Federal government for funding should either find a new source of income or accept gays into their membership. Homosexuals pay their taxes, too, and I don't see it as being pariculary fair that our money should be going to organizations that seek to descriminate against us. Then again, though, in this climate, where the federal government is funding churches, I doubt that the BSA have anything to wory about at the moment.
Broader Social Issues
Clearly, though, this case is a lot more than just a simple 1st amendment issue - the social implications are vast.
Is Christianity really under attack in the US? Can Christians manage another 43 consecutive presidents in this country, or is their hold slipping? As things stand now, with their boy in the White-House, and a fairly large portion of congress, the evangelical crazy-right doesn't seem to be in all that much trouble. . . hmm though if only they could find some way to get around the impartial non-political judiciary - er I mean those damned activist judges - then they'd have a trifecta.
Where has this recent persecution complex among evangelicals come from? They're enjoying more power today then they've had in quite some time, and are still a growing political force (as disgusting as that may be).
Well, probably not, but at the rate things are going, might it not be a good idea to revoke the tax-exempt status of some evangelical churches? These groups are less about spreading God's word and doing good works than they are about politics - in 2004 we saw preachers literally telling their congregation who to vote for and actually throwing out anyone who said they wouldn't support Bush. At what point does a church become a political action comity?
And of course, when it comes down to it what's the point of getting all bitchy about homosexuals in the first place? Maybe if these people were less interested in acting upset and trying to play the victim all the time when they aren't preaching about how much better they are then everyone they could actually enjoy being on a University campus.
There's a lot to be said for approaching education, and higher learning in particular, with an attitude receptive to learning and broadening one's own horizons rather than coming at it from the angle that you already know everything, or at least all the important stuff, and need to shout it at others until they want to throw things at you.
I'd sort of like to think that if these people could take their heads out of their own asses for a little while and see that gay people aren't evil community destroying automatons who lust for children while burning bibles for warmth that maybe they could actually turn out as functioning members of society, rather than essentially indoctrinated cultists, really only a step above suicide bombers. Sadly that's often too much to ask.
