Student Legal Fight Vital to Freedom of Religion

This week Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury filed a witness statement on behalf of the Christian students at Exeter University, giving them a major boost in their High Court Human Rights case against the university, and its student guild.

|PIC1|The situation came to a head at the start of this year when the executive committee of the Exeter University Evangelical Christian Union issued proceedings in the High Court seeking a judicial review of the decision by the Guild of Students to suspend the Christian Union.

With the backing of a wide range of Christians, including the Evangelical Alliance, and the present Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, as well as the former Church of England head, Lord Carey, Exeter Christian Union has stated its belief that its ban by the guild violates its right of association of a religious body.

The situation which has arisen is of course regrettable, yet events have bordered on the absurd since October when the Christian Union in Exeter was forced to change its name.

Thousands of students, and five decades of history, are a strong indication of the fact that the union does not hold anything other than regular orthodox Christian views which churches of all mainstream denominations have also held for up to 2,000 years. Of course not every single Christian will sign up to the exact wording expressed by Exeter's Christian Union, but this is not a reason to restrain beliefs.

The issue now has become one of freedom of religious expression, speech, and belief; something that is vital to a fair and democratic society. In a modern democratic society, it is essential that there be freedom to define, and defend ones religious beliefs using a statement of faith, and a suppression of this is a suppression of religious liberty.

Some have criticised Exeter Christian Union for making students who join the society sign up to a doctrinal statement of faith. However, this is simply the workings of any responsible society, and a similar method operates in many different organisations, clubs and societies across the country. It is not as some put it "restrictive" or "exclusive". To those that want to join the society, they need to do so with an understanding of its beliefs - and to not do this could just as easily be irresponsible.

If students do not agree with the statement of faith, the option is quite simple - don't sign up to be part of this society, and find a different society which does cater for their beliefs.

Again it must be stressed that the statement of faith that the Exeter Christian Union subscribes to is not extreme in any way. Quite the opposite, mainstream churches have followed the same or similar beliefs for 2,000 years. The beliefs are not ones which will spread or instigate hatred among the student body, and so to see any reason for this ban and suppression of the Christian Union is hard to find.

One of the major worries about this entire situation has been summed up by Lord Carey, who pointed out that these acts were taking place at a respected and mainstream university. What we are seeing is no less than an infringement of free speech, and something which must be fought seriously in a society which is increasingly, and rather alarmingly, attempting to marginalise Christianity, as well as other faiths.