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The U.S. Supreme Court hasn't taken on many significant religion cases lately. Perhaps the justices were resting up for what could be one of the biggest rulings yet: Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, which went before the court April 19, is in some eyes the title fight between anti-discrimination laws and religious identity. It's a case that both sides have long been waiting for.

At issue is an anti-discrimination rule at Hastings College of the Law (part of the University of California). Hastings says the rule means that the Christian Legal Society's (CLS) on-campus chapter cannot make its leaders sign a statement of faith and abstain from "unrepentant participation in or advocacy of a sexually immoral lifestyle." The school said student group leadership positions must be open to all students—even to those who would seek such positions precisely in order to destroy the purpose of the group.

If CLS loses the case, in time it would mean that "religious and other groups that adhere to traditional moral views could be driven from the public square in the name of enforcing nondiscrimination," CLS told the court.

A loss could "effectively remove evangelical organizations from state college and university campuses throughout the United States," according to a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the National Association of Evangelicals and other evangelical groups.

Even more than that, "It is not hyperbole to argue that … this case ultimately threatens the future of public education as we know it," said a friend-of-the-court brief from the Rutherford Institute. Hastings is subjecting the freedom of association on campus "to state censorship grounded in political ideology," the organization said.

The American Civil Liberties Union, on the other hand, argued that a CLS win would "considerably weaken our civil rights protections" and set civil rights law back to the days of state-funded racism.

Other friend-of-the-court briefs referenced a related debate that's even more core to the debate on anti-discrimination laws and religious identity: hiring at faith-based institutions.

"If this court determines that CLS does not have any constitutional right to religious association in the context of this case, then there will be little constitutional protection for religious employers, particularly if they receive any kind of government benefit, use government buildings such as schools and convention centers, and/or participate in government-funded programs," said a brief from World Vision, Compassion International, Prison Fellowship, Samaritan's Purse, the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, and others. "[H]ow this court characterizes the religious associational policies and rights of religious organizations … will likely establish the framework for future deliberations within all branches of government on questions of religious hiring."

The CLS v. Martinez decision will be widely cited, no matter the outcome. But as CLS made clear in its own briefs, it's very much a separate battle. (The CLS case is mostly about speech at a university forum, and money is not central.) If CLS loses, it is far from a foregone conclusion that religious groups that partner with the government will lose their ability to consider faith commitments when hiring. And it's a far journey from that step to the much-discussed scenario of protesters joining organizations en masse to nullify the groups' religious identity or ethical commitments.

Defenders of religious identity safeguards are not scaremongers. The scenarios they propose are actually quite likely if government entities like Hastings or the Supreme Court treat biblical principles as invidious discrimination and then shun organizations with faith commitments.

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May 2010, Vol. 54, No. 5

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