• The University of Wisconsin-Superior chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship filed suit in federal court on October 2 against the leadership of the University of Wisconsin system. IVCF wants UW-Superior to reinstate the chapter and to allow the group to choose leaders according to its religious criteria. Earlier this year, the university said IVCF violated antidiscrimination policies by denying leadership roles to practicing homosexuals, and it derecognized the organization.
• The trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary voted 36-1 on October 17 to prohibit professors or administrators from promoting charismatic practices, such as private prayer languages. In August, a new seminary trustee, Dwight McKissic, told students during a chapel service that he prays in tongues. McKissic, a pastor in Arlington, Texas, has criticized the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board for barring missionaries from using private prayer languages.
• The Senate failed to pass the Child Custody Protection Act before adjourning in September, falling just three votes short of the 60 necessary to send the bill to President Bush. The act would have prohibited taking minors across state lines for an abortion if their home-state law requires parental notification. Eight Democrats who supported the bill in July nevertheless voted against sending the bill to conference with the House.
• A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit filed by five Air Force Academy graduates who argued that cadets and officers imposed their evangelical views on the school. The judge determined the cadets did not provide specific examples of discrimination and lacked standing. Mikey Weinstein, who headed the complaint, said they would refile the lawsuit.
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Related Elsewhere:
InterVarsity has posted a news release announcing its decision to sue the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
Documents and other resources on the suit are available at The Alliance Defense Fund’s Center for Academic Freedom, which is suing on behalf of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
While the suit is pending, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship can remain on campus.
A 2003 Christianity Today article, Campus Collisions looks at why InterVarsity Christian Fellowship was derecognized at some of America’s leading universities (October 1, 2003).
Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, defined the seminary’s stance on the gift of tongues in a chapel speech.
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustees issued another statement in response to Dwight McKissic’s sermon.
The Associated Press has an article on the seminary’s response to McKissic’s sermon.
Other Christianity Today articles about or mentioning the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary include:
Southwestern’s Predicament | Can the biggest Protestant seminary in the world be both Southern Baptist and broadly evangelical? (May 21, 2002)
Young, Restless, Reformed | Calvinism is making a comeback—and shaking up the church. (September 22, 2006)
The Library of Congress’s Thomas site has the text and status of the Child Custody Protection bill.
The lawsuit against The Air Force Academy was dismissed in late October.
In addition to new religious guidelines, the Air Force has a press release and explanatory memo.
Past CT coverage of Air Force controversies include:
New Air Force Religion Guidelines May Restrict Evangelism | Policy allowing chaplains “to instruct and/or evangelize” withdrawn, lawsuit seeks explicit ban on all members (Oct. 28, 2006)
A Wing and Less Prayer | New Air Force religion guidelines get mixed response. (Oct. 6, 2005)
‘No Overt Discrimination’ | Air Force Academy cleared, but some faulted for insensitivity. (July 7, 2005)
Air Force Chaplains Allege Bias | Independent survey finds perceptions of racial, gender, and religious discrimination. (Oct. 18, 2001)
