University to Change Policy Defining Religious Discrimination as Oppression by Christians
By Todd Starnes
Published February 16, 2011
| FoxNews.com
UC Davis Campus of Universtity of California at Davis
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The University of California at Davis has backed away from a policy that defined religious discrimination as Christians oppressing non-Christians after more than two dozen Christian students filed a formal complaint.
The definition was listed in a document called, “The Principles of Community.” It defined “Religious/Spiritual Discrimination” as “The loss of power and privilege to those who do not practice the dominant culture’s religion. In the United States, this is institutionalized oppressions toward those who are not Christian.”
“This is radical political correctness run amok,” said David French, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.
The conservative advocacy group wrote a letter on behalf of more than 25 students who objected to the policy and wanted it revised.
He said it’s absurd to single out Christians as oppressors and non-Christians as the only oppressed people on campus.
Raheem Reed, an associate executive vice chancellor at UC-Davis, said he received the letter and removed the definition Wednesday afternoon.
“I certainly can see how a Christian student reading that definition might feel and that’s why it was immediately disabled and taken down,” Reed told Fox News Radio. “This is not how we define religious discrimination.”
However, one student said they complained to administrators last November about the policy and nothing was done. “Christians deserve the same protections against religious discrimination as any other students on a public university campus,” French told Fox News Radio. “The idea that a university would discriminate against Christians is a very old story, unfortunately, and one that we see played out every day.”
One student, who asked not to be identified, said university officials asked her to reaffirm “The Principles of Community” last semester. She refused to do so when she realized that Christians were not protected under the policy.
“To have a non-discrimination policy that excludes the Christian faith is a cause for action,” she said. “In higher academia, one would hope that a diversity of ideas and beliefs would be appreciated. But my experience has been that this has not always been the case. There is a real fear of academic bias against the Christian faith.”
Reed said he regrets that Christian students might feel intimidated. “We want everyone to feel safe, welcomed and supportive,” he said.
“Not only are we taking it down, but now we’re going to look at what kind of affirmative steps we can take to reassure those members of our campus community who may have felt somewhat threatened or intimidated by it.”
French said all of the students who complained are fearful of backlash if their identities became known. “This was amazing to actually enshrine in your non-discrimination statement – discrimination against Christians,” he said.
“This is a symbol of the seeming impunity in which universities violate the law to establish a radical, secular-left agenda.” Alan Brownstein, a law professor at UC-Davis, said the campus has a generally open and tolerant view of religion.
“It’s a university campus,” he said. “There is robust debate and people will disagree on just about everything.” Brownstein, who is a nationally known constitutional scholar, said any legal challenges to the policy would depend on whether or not it’s a binding document.
“Clearly, if you had an enforceable regulatory policy that said, ‘we will discipline Christians who oppress non-Christians, but we will not impose the same kind of disciplinary sanctions on non-Christians who engage in the same kind of harassing behavior against Christians,’ that would be unacceptable and subject to legal challenge.”
Reed said “The Principles of Community” is not a policy. “They are, in fact, aspirational principles we have – to try to make sure we are promoting diversity and trying to build a more inclusive campus community,” he said.
Regardless, Brownstein said it might have been more appropriate to use less-specific language in the policy. “It’s always preferable to be as general as you can when you describe these kinds of unacceptable behaviors,” he said.
I find it unbelivable that in the 21st century, the first half of the third century of our country's history, that we would be under attack from within from the people we defeated in the Cold War--Socialists. And like the Socialists of old, this breed has on the top of their target list. GOD and religion. Their reasons are simple. The only thing they want worshiped is the "State"---the GOD-less State! I would like to see proposed, though I know in the Obama-age it would be difficult to pass, an admendment to our Constitution that lays our clear and HARSH PENALTIES for any group, orgainization, or instution that infringes on our basic freedoms of speech, religion, and associations (being a member of the Repulican Party will probably get you punished). It seems the Cold War is back and infiltrators are aligned with Obama and the Democratic Party.
Viva Puerto Rico!
Puerto Rico's Gov. Fortuno Slashes Deficit
Wednesday, 16 Feb 2011 02:29 PM
By Ronald Kessler
When Luis Fortuño was sworn in as governor of Puerto Rico in 2009, the U.S. territory had a deficit that was 44 percent of its revenue. Moody’s was threatening to downgrade its bonds to junk status.
“I was facing, when I came in two years ago, the worst state budget deficit in the country,” Fortuño tells Newsmax. “Actually, it was so bad that we had to take out a loan to meet our first payroll.”
The first Republican governor in Puerto Rico since 1969, Fortuño turned that around by cutting government expenses by 20 percent. He eliminated 17,000 government jobs, modernized government services to reduce costs, and decreased expenditures for official vehicles, cell phones, and credit cards by 10 percent.
In 24 months, Puerto Rico’s deficit has been reduced from 44 percent of revenues to 11 percent. Moody’s has upgraded Puerto Rico’s bonds to A3 status, their highest rating in 35 years.
Moreover, Fortuño has cut the maximum corporate tax rate this year from 41 percent to 30 percent. In 2014, it will go down further to 25 percent.
Starting in 2013, the average effective tax rate for individuals — comparable to the state and federal income tax bite combined — will drop from 9.4 percent to 6.7 percent, a 29 percent cut.
“It was so bad that actually before being sworn in, I had to fly up to New York to meet with the rating agencies to avoid being downgraded to junk status.” Fortuño says.
Instead of seeking a bailout, Fortuño says he began by cutting his own salary by 10 percent. Then he slashed the government payroll, including a 30 percent cut in the number of political appointees. By providing services on the Internet, he slashed more jobs.
“Our permitting process was in total disarray, and actually you had to go to 26 different agencies to obtain 28 different permits to do anything in Puerto Rico,” Fortuño says. “Today, you go to one office to obtain one permit, and you can do it through the Internet as well, and that’s important to all of us, because we want to continue providing services to people.”
A lawyer, Fortuño is personally frugal. He is proud that he still wears his tuxedo from high school.
At first, Fortuño got pushback from unions. “But at the end of the day, what we’re doing is, first of all we’re acting in a responsible way, and secondly, I spoke directly to the voters [and] they are keeping a lot more of their own money,” says Fortuño, who was a resident commissioner representing Puerto Rico without a vote in the House before he became governor.
The miracle that Fortuño pulled off should be a model for the country and every state. In contrast, President Obama, who took office in the same month as the Puerto Rican governor, has increased deficits and debt by trillions.
Fortuño says Obama’s policies are wrong. “I believe that we need to empower our businesses and our taxpayers, and if we do that, our economy will grow at a much faster pace than we are today,” Fortuño says. “Secondly, we cannot continue printing money to cover our deficit. Thank goodness the states can’t do that. So we have to bite the bullet, and that’s exactly what I did.”
As a member of Puerto Rico’s New Progressive Party, Fortuño is for making the U.S. territory the 51st state. President Reagan favored statehood, as does the platform of the Republican Party. But many Republicans worry that Puerto Rico would elect Democratic members of Congress.
Fortuño says that assumption is wrong. He notes that Puerto Ricans are proud to be American citizens and have been since 1917.
“We fought in every single war with courage and valor, alongside the people from every single state, and yet we do not fully participate in the decision-making process of the nation, and the laws that apply to every single citizen across the country also apply to the American citizens residing in Puerto Rico,” Fortuño says.
The governor, who was elected with an 11 percent margin, says there is a “misconception that we will be electing people from one party or another at the national level. Well, I don’t know what you call me, but certainly a governor with two-thirds of the legislators willing to cut the size of government by 20 percent in two years, slash taxes across the board significantly, and streamline the permitting process — I call that a Republican.”
Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com. View his previous reports and get his dispatches sent to you free via e-mail. Go here now.
As we can see, our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico are NOT in "lock step" with the "druken Sailor on leave" strategy of the neo-socialist, formally Democratic, Party. The Obama "Kool-Aid" didn't quite make it to the island, I guess. We see proof of what we, on the right, have been saying all along. YOU CAN'T SPEND YOUR WAY OUT OF DEBT! Thankfully, the Puerto Ricans were wise enough to vote for Luis Fortuño as their Governor. Unlike many Puerto Ricans that live on the east coast of the USA, the citizens of the island broke the hold the, "spend until we collapse" Democrats have had on the island. Lets hope their brethern on the mainland see what has happened and finally realize the Democrats will on do for them ONLY what keeps them as second class citzens economically.
Posted at 02:21 PM in Politics and Social Commentary | Permalink | Comments (0)