Shawn A. Dorisian wrote: "In a free society any group has the right to
organize and run itself as it chooses."
and,
"It is not for those outside of said organization to tell them how they
should run it or what they should believe.
Shawn Dorisian's statement is both true and false. True, any RELIGIOUS group
has the right to organize and run itself as it chooses, although there are
limits --bans on human sacrifice and polygamy, for example.
For other groups, at least in the U.S., there are many limits. And defining
those limits keep lawyers and judges very busy.
It's important to keep in mind that discrimination can take many illegal
forms. It's not limited to racial, ethnic or religious factors.
So, while a public restaurant or my employer may not discriminate against me
based on my sex, the Catholic Church can legally bar women from the
priest's role.
A public restaurant or school can't discriminate based on physical
disability, yet a Catholic school can legally do so, as was done in the
instance I described where a Catholic School refused a disabled brother
while accepting his able bodied twin.
The fact that discrimination is LEGALLY protected within the context of
religion is at the heart of protecting public access in any shared
public/private facility at De LaSalle.
Please keep in mind that the operative concept here is RELIGION and that the
legal right to discriminate in this fashion is not confined to any one
religion.
However, because of specific doctrine, women and G/L/B/T have potential
conflict areas that don't exist within the context of, say, Unitarianism. A
conflict scenario was holding a pro-Roe v. Wade Rally at the De LaSalle
facility, for instance.
CM Erwin sought to protect the public's interest with his equal rights'
language.
Guarantees are also essential for protection of religion FROM the state.
Otherwise, in the U.S. the Catholic Church would be legally bound to accept
women on the same basis as men. And a church would break the law if they
refused a G/L/B/T member the same rights afforded all others.
Other private/public associations are not fraught with the same dangers
inherent in a religious/public association. The Walker, for instance, has no
exemptions from basic guarantees of equal rights in its Sculpture Garden
partnership with the Park Board.
Also, public access doesn't wait until Walker members are finished using
the Scupture Garden .
Christine Viken
Stevens Square/Loring Heights
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