THE WAR AGAINST RELIGIOUS FREE SPEECH

There is a war raging in America, and it may be the most important
war we will fight in the coming years. But it's not a war against
terrorism, drugs or AIDS. It's a war against free speech, primarily
religious free speech.

Let me give you some examples. The microphone was unplugged by school
officials when a high school valedictorian began talking about Jesus
Christ. An instrumental version of "Ave Maria" was eliminated by
school officials because it might be religious. A city councilman was
told that he cannot end his prayers in Jesus' name, while other
council members can pray as they see fit. These are all examples of
individuals who were simply expressing their First Amendment right to
free speech -- religious free speech. Until recent years, this was
protected speech. But things seem to be going from bad to worse. A
recent court decision dismissing the case of a rock band that was
discriminated against because of its members' religious beliefs
highlights the problem.

Officials at Rossford High School in Ohio asked Pawn, a rock group
that included several students attending the school, to perform at a
school-sponsored anti-drug assembly that was scheduled for December
21, 2004. Pawn performs original compositions written by its band
members, all of whom are Christians. The band attempts to convey
positive messages through its music about the use of drugs, alcohol
and sexual promiscuity. Pawn agreed to perform at the assembly and to
present messages to the students between songs. Pawn also agreed that
its statements between songs would not be religious and would be
limited to the "Just Say No" anti-drug, anti-alcohol message of the
assembly. Attendance at the assembly was to be purely voluntary,
with all students given the option of attending Pawn's performance,
study hall or a movie.

Both the school and Pawn began making immediate preparations for the
assembly. Pawn's performance was announced to students, and posters
were printed to promote the event. However, a week before the
assembly, school officials rescinded their invitation to Pawn because
of the religious content of the group's songs.

Obviously, this is a classic case of discrimination against a group
of people because of who they are and what they might say. It's what
some courts have called viewpoint discrimination, and it's an
important ingredient of free speech. And it's a perfect example of
how far government officials are willing to go to avoid any
association with religious individuals, ideas or speech. And
specifically, free speech by Christians.

A lawsuit followed in which all these key First Amendment principles
were argued. And just last week, Federal District Court Judge Jack
Zouhary ruled that Pawn had no protected right to free speech. The
court adopted a "government speech" analysis as the basis of its
decision. This doctrine, which is now being used more frequently by
the courts, holds that if speech occurs on government property, it is
not protected by the First Amendment. As Judge Zouhary wrote in his
opinion: "This is not a case about the state discriminating against
speech and religion, but rather about the state having control over
who speaks on its behalf."

There is a very real danger in this type of thinking. The places
where people are allowed to exercise their free speech in America are
gradually being eliminated. City squares are disappearing, replaced
by parking lots. Corporations are buying up entire towns and turning
them into private property. And the government is expanding at a
rapid rate. Thus, as the government speech concept widens to
encompass more and more, speech occurring on public property can and
will be barred by government officials. Thus, free speech as we have
known it will die away.

History teaches us some valuable lessons. Every society that grows
more authoritarian eliminates free speech. It is free speech that
tyrants fear most for there is nothing more dangerous than ideas that
reach fertile minds. Moreover, it must not be forgotten that often a
citizenry willingly forfeits essential rights for security. We have
seen this in the U.S. in light of the post-9/11 paranoia.

But there is another way that citizens forfeit their rights: It
happens when they have little to no clue about what those rights are.
Recent polls and surveys indicate that average Americans have little
knowledge of their rights as laid out in the United States
Constitution. Thus, it is very easy for the government to ride
roughshod over our basic freedoms.

Eliminating free speech and other rights is an incremental process,
which begins gradually. Today the target, especially in public
schools, seems to be Christians.

We still have time to act. And we must act because free speech is the
basis of democracy. Without it, the future looks grim.