In a dilemma related to religious tolerance, Tina, who is a student at California State University, is facing a choice concerning the destiny of her school’s Intervarsity Christian fellowship. Tina is a helpful volunteer student leader who holds Christian religious views, as Intervarsity requires student leaders to do. California State University has just made new rules and regulations requiring every approved campus group to have a nondiscrimination rule indicating that a society could not require its leaders to hold specific beliefs, including religious beliefs. Tina is being placed in a religious-tolerance-based dilemma. Would she compromise her Christian principles to remain lawful in the eyes of others, or stay true to her faith even if it means potentially estranging other people from the moral message of the gospel that Tina is required to spread (Nandy, 1988)?
Tina’s choice is hard because no matter which decision she makes, she loses something; likewise, each of her decisions will affect other persons both indirectly and directly. If she refuses to conform to the new policy of California State University, the entire group will miss out on funding, publicity, and other outreach activities. Tina’s interpretation of this is that it is an opportunity to extend the gospel, and she places higher importance on this. If she chooses to reject the new alterations in the rules and regulations, she must run the Intervarsity group without any funding or assistance from California State University. This will make it more difficult to attract new members to the Intervarsity group. Tina also has the risk of being reported for not obeying the policies of California State University. Tina is facing two main choices. She could do nothing and continue to run her Intervarsity group in the same way; however, she risks being written up by the officials of California State University if somebody complains about her. She can also alter the management of her group so that the students in authority do not have to hold Christian views and beliefs. Tina could be pacifying other people but would not be acting according to her morality or practicing her right to free speech (Newman, 1982).
Core Beliefs
Morality, liberty, admiration for one’s fellow man, and the duty to extend the gospel all play a significant part in this situation. Living a truthful life is important in the Christian religion. Speaking the truth is very important to the Lord, and he made it one of his ten main directives. The Christian religion requires followers to trust and live their faith realistically. It means that they show reliable conduct and do not believe one thing while saying another. Followers of the early church were killed because they lived openly as Christians and spread the good news in public. These individuals are examples of what it means to truly live one’s beliefs. Honesty is a necessary element of the Christian religion, as Christian people have to trust each other. Mathew 22:36-39 quotes Jesus as saying, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the 1st and the utmost directive. And the 2nd one is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” One cannot love God with all their heart if they deny him publicly, nor can they love their neighbor if they are not honest about their intentions (Habermas, 2004).
Resolution
Tina should not have to choose between her religious beliefs and freedom of speech. These two points are rights that are given to her as a resident under the 1st Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. However, her dilemma has forced her hand. Tina can continue to run the group in the same way she is running it now. This would directly conflict with the new rules and regulations of California State University, and hence, she cannot continue doing so with a clear conscience. The duty of the Intervarsity group to extend the gospel and provide fellowship will also be significantly limited by a secretive approach under the new policy of California State University. Tina’s choice is hard but based on ethics. She lets Intervarsity remain unaccepted and unsponsored by California State University. This choice means that they will miss out on the benefits and certain other prospects. However, they will attain their liberty and know that they are being true to their beliefs and faith (Cantor, 1994).
Evaluate
There are both harms and advantages to some of Tina’s likely choices. If Tina chooses to be true to her beliefs and faith and to the rules and regulations of the Intervarsity group, she will lose a lot of assistance that is tied to being formally accepted by California State University. In the future, it would be harder to arrange seminars and meetings, reserve meeting places, promote the group at the university, and have unrestricted access to the faculty and students. The benefits for Tina and the other Intervarsity followers include having the liberty to run Intervarsity groups in their preferred manner. There is nothing that declares that the group could not continue operating informally at the university. This is a better choice for the organization because it lets them continue a Christian-led group that reaches out to individuals of all backgrounds.
Compare
Absolute truths like morality are particularly important to the Christian religion. Absolute truths do not play a similar part in a skeptical worldview, which considers that everybody needs to understand reality for themselves, choose their particular ethics, and strictly follow those ethics. This is known as moral relativity. In this worldview, Tina is furthermore likely to accept the policies of California State University to appease them but continue to conduct Intervarsity group activities as she wishes behind closed doors. This would not be incorrect in this worldview, as the absence of absolute truth means that the meaning of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ could vary depending on the situation.
Conclusion
Religious-tolerance-based dilemmas are often problematic even when they are not matters of life and death. This is obvious in Tina’s circumstances. Tina’s problem arises at California State University, and it deals with how a group of students should conduct itself. It is improbable that any resolution to her religious dilemma would be a life-changing event; however, it would still make sense in light of the worldviews involved. Her worldview would influence the choice Tina makes, and the results of that decision would be viewed through the lens of her worldview. A similar point will be true for most people in society. This instance is a testament to the power of worldviews.
References
Cantor, D. (1994). The religious right: The assault on tolerance & pluralism in America. Anti-Defamation League.
Habermas, J. (2004). Religious tolerance—the pacemaker for cultural rights. Philosophy, 79(1), 5–18.
Nandy, A. (1988). The politics of secularism and the recovery of religious tolerance. Alternatives, 13(2), 177–194.
Newman, J. (1982). Foundations of religious tolerance. Univ of Toronto Pr.
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