JUDGE PHIL GINN: The First Amendment's religious freedom protections are under attack

The very First Amendment to the United States Constitution explicitly begins with this language: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Mind you, we would never have had our Constitution without the Bill of Rights, which comprises the first 10 Amendments to our founding document. There simply would not have been enough states willing to ratify our Constitution without these most important modifications. Interestingly enough, the most important freedom that rose to the top of the concerns of a vast number of the early citizenry was the concept of religious freedom. This was never an attempt to protect our government from religious interference, but solely to protect the rights of our people to worship God and to serve God in any way they see fit. Ironically, this protection actually facilitated the early creation of social safety nets created by Christian and Jewish charities including child welfare, feeding the hungry, hospitals and education, which included several Ivy League Schools. To be sure, a good number of these originally faith-based entities have long since demurred from their respective faith origins, and many of the safeguards they once championed have been taken over by the welfare state of overreaching government. Regrettably, in most cases, the needs have not been met by bureaucratic governmental control to the degree that they were met under the care and guidance of religious leadership.
 
Unfortunately, it is this perennial promise of freedom of faith that is now under great threat even by the government whose founding documents originally offered complete protection. The juggernaut that is the LGBTQ+, etc lobby has trained its guns directly on people of faith who oppose actions and teachings that are contrary to the tenets of their faith. To explain it in a way that even a Supreme Court justice, U.S. senator, congressperson or even a president and vice president can understand, this means they are coming for anyone who has the audacity to criticize sexual activity outside of the marriage between an “individual capable of creating sperm and an individual capable of creating eggs,” sometimes more commonly referred to as a “man and a woman.” And there is no more fertile ground for these kinds of sex-crazed crusades than that found in the realm of higher education.
 
Back in 2021, a group of students who identify as lesbian or transgendered were “triggered” by the actions of some Christian schools where they were attending regarding their chosen path of sexuality. It appears that these faith-based schools were not as receptive to their sexual eccentricities as they would prefer. Kind of makes you wonder why they chose to go to a school like that in the first place. At any rate, here is a sampling of the alleged "atrocities" that were committed against them. The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, Elizabeth Hunter, claimed her Christian school “made it difficult to be a lesbian.” Hunter defiantly added, “As someone figuring out their sexuality while at college, Bob Jones University’s policies on sexuality and marriage created a scary, harsh environment for me.” Not to be outdone, one of her co-plaintiffs, Victoria Joy Bacon, who “identifies as a genderfluid, nonbinary, trans ‘womxn’ (whatever that is!) and uses the pronouns ‘they/fae,’ felt ‘unsafe’ on campus, wasn’t allowed to organize an LGBTQ+ club and heard ‘many anti-LGBTQ+ lectures and statements from faculty.’” Go figure!
 
In their subsequent lawsuit titled Hunter, et al. vs. U.S. Department of Education, these plaintiffs endeavored to invoke the participation of the U.S. Department of Education under the auspices of Title IX to fight these “egregious tactics” utilized by Bob Jones University, and like-minded schools, even though those "egregious tactics" amounted to nothing other than standing for biblical standards of morality that quite obviously conflicted with the desired lifestyle of the plaintiffs. As you will recall, Title IX was originally designed to protect women but has become one of the main weapons in the arsenal of failed male athletes who are now wanting to compete against women under the banner of transgenderism. Thankfully, a U.S. Court of Appeals in a recent ruling found in favor of religious liberty and acknowledged in their ruling “that “Title IX’s religious exemption does not violate the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.”
 
While Title IX prohibits “sex-based discrimination, a school run by a religious organization is exempt ‘to the extent that application of Title IX would be inconsistent with the religious tenets of the organization.’” In essence, these plaintiffs wanted the court to obliterate the religious exemption given to Christian colleges under the provisions of federal law. The three Christian schools involved were represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), an organization with which Southern Evangelical Seminary (SES) is familiar with and with whom we are proud to partner on occasion. Chris Schandevel, ADF senior counsel, had this to say about the victory; “Federal law explicitly protects the freedom of religious schools to live out their deeply held convictions, and we’re pleased this legal victory protects Christian colleges’ fundamental rights.”
 
Another laudable organization, The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, also released a statement praising the ruling. “The CCCU is thrilled for the Hunter decision that upholds the biblical principles that are vital to our members institutions,” it said. “These principles are not merely written in a mission but lived daily by all administrators, faculty, and students. It is that faithful devotion to Biblical truth that guides each student attending a Christian college or university.” 
 
While we stand with our fellow institutions and those who come to their aid, we at Southern Evangelical Seminary know well that this fight is not over by any means. The tentacles of the LGBTQ+, etc. morality continue to dig deeply into the skin of religious institutions often with the aid and assistance of the federal government. There is little doubt that this particular case will potentially end up in the lap of the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition, the religious exemption embedded in legislation like Title IX is a pen stroke away from being removed by Congressional action based on pending legislation. We at SES have experienced firsthand the heavy breath of intimidation from our own government that not only wants us to loosen the reins on student activity related to these issues but to also hire individuals who do not hold to our Statement of Faith and are in fact in direct opposition to it from the standpoint of biblical morality. Make no mistake, despite this temporary victory and momentary respite, there are dark clouds of wickedness and deceit hanging over the heads of the people of this nation. But as long as we have breath, Southern Evangelical Seminary will stand against these lies from the pit of Hell and continue to advocate for traditional morality and for God's truth.
 
After a successful career as a lawyer and judge, Judge Phil Ginn retired as the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge for the 24th Judicial District in North Carolina. Throughout his 22-year judicial career, he had the privilege of holding court in almost 50% of the county seats in North Carolina. Currently, Judge Ginn serves as the president of Southern Evangelical Seminary (ses.edu) and is a regular contributor to Christianity.com and The Washington Times. Judge Ginn has also been featured on Fox News, CBN, Newsmax, Decision Magazine, The Christian Post, Townhall and many others.