Virginia school district bans teacher from using Bible verse in email signature
The Liberty Counsel's Roger Gannam argues the Loudoun County Public Schools policy is 'religious discrimination.'
America First Legal recently announced it sued County College of Morris (CCM) and its Dean of Students after a student was suspended for "hate speech" by citing religious scripture.
"Today, America First Legal, along with co-counsel Jonathan F. Mitchell and Wally Zimolong, sued the County College of Morris (CCM) and its Dean of Students, Janique Caffie, for suspending and threatening a Christian student for preaching from the Bible and speaking against homosexuality," America First Legal declared in late March.
The same press release reported that a Christian student named Kombe Sefelino will "occasionally mention the Bible’s teachings on homosexuality, which warn practicing homosexuals (and other sinners) that they will not inherit the kingdom of God unless they repent." The document said that he will verbally quote passages such as, "the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God," and that "neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Cor. 6:9-10 (ESV).
America First Legal reported that after somebody on campus witnessed Sefelino quoting biblical teaching on sexual morality, "the college issued a written warning declaring Mr. Sefelino’s statements ‘hate speech’ that ‘demonstrated a bias against the LGBQT+ community.’ The warning also told Mr. Sefelino that his statements violated New Jersey law."
The First Amendment not only applies to freedom of speech, but freedom of religion as well. (iStock)
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When he reportedly refused to "self censor" the college responded by "[pronouncing] Mr. Sefelino guilty of ‘preaching hate speech on campus in reference to homosexuality and homosexuals’ and suspended him for eleven days."
America First Legal noted that the school is "a public taxpayer-funded institution bound by the Constitution’s free speech and religious freedom guarantees" yet it "threatened to expel him if he continued preaching against homosexuality." The press release added, "Without evincing any sense of irony, the college’s letter states: ‘We accept everyone here. There is no place for bias at CCM.’"
America First Legal Vice President and General Counsel Gene Hamilton declared in a statement that their organization takes this incident as an indictment of modern academia as a whole.
"For generations, colleges and universities were centers for free speech and the open exchange of ideas. American students were taught to disagree with each other respectfully. This is no longer true, and many colleges and universities have become centers of censorship. Woke bureaucrats in colleges across the United States are more than happy to silence speech with which they disagree," Hamilton said. "We will not let this go on our watch."
College campuses have become one of the major battlegrounds for freedom of speech in the United States. (iStock)
A document purportedly sent by the college to Sefelino cited "Safe Space Training" and "Implicit Bias Training" as "steps CCM has taken to stop harassment and create a bias-free environment" and issued a warning that Sefelino may be removed from the institution entirely.
"There is simply no place on this campus for bias against any individual or group of individual ls based on their protected class status," the letter purportedly from Human Resources and Labor Relations Vice President Vivyen Ray said. "Further complaints against you for demonstrating biased behavior will result in a recommendation to Dean Caffie to begin Student Code of Conduct proceedings with the intention of lawfully removing you as a student."
The College Fix’s coverage of the story wrote, "In a filing after the initial lawsuit, [CCM’s Dean of Students Janique Caffie] stated she told Sefelino he could return to campus for any ‘lawful purpose.’"
Reading biblical scripture can be a complicated legal matter in certain countries where freedom of speech is not protected. (Daniilantiq via Getty Images)
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The same outlet observed, "The community college has not clarified if Sefelino’s preaching is considered ‘lawful’ or if it will discipline him in the future if he continues. In addition, Sefelino is seeking payment of his legal fees and the expungement of his disciplinary record, which the community college has not provided."
Fox News Digital reached out to County College of Morris, but the school declined to comment.
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