Groucho Marx famously quipped that he wouldn’t want to join any club that would have him as a member. Some people take this hankering to an extreme: they want to force every group averse to their membership to accept them.
Keywords: forced inclusion. The current political rage — thought to be a “right.”
Now, Yeshiva University, which calls itself “the world’s premier Torah-based institution of higher education,” does not accept homosexuality. It’s against the Law.
And by “the Law” they mean: the ancient Jewish scriptures.
For those of us who are neither Jewish nor gay, we might look upon both groups as “clubs.” And being in neither, we might just shrug; we aren’t going to be accepted in the either ranks and that’s just fine.
But some students at Yeshiva University tried to form an LGBT group on campus. The university resisted, the case went to court, and a court ordered the university to accept the group. And then last week, the Supreme Court refused to order a stay on the lower court’s order.
In reaction, Yeshiva University has suspended all campus club activities.
“Every faith-based university in the country has the right to work with its students, including its LGBTQ students, to establish the clubs, places and spaces that fit within its faith tradition,” the university’s president proclaimed. “Yeshiva University simply seeks that same right of self-determination.”
Since the right to “freedom of association” is part of the Bill of Rights, one might think this would be non-controversial in America. And settled law.
But one would be wrong. On both counts.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
Illustration created with DALL-E
—
See all recent commentary
(simplified and organized)
