An attempt to prevent graduates of a Christian university from teaching in public schools amounts to religious intolerance, attorney Gerald Chipeur told Canada’s Supreme Court on November 9. Chipeur, representing the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada, made his argument in support of Trinity Western University, a Christian institution, in a case Chipeur says “could not be more important to Christians in Canada.”
At the center of the dispute is Trinity Western’s code of conduct, in which students and faculty pledge to refrain from engaging in extramarital sex, including homosexual activity. The British Columbia College of Teachers (BCCT) argues that this code of conduct creates the risk that teachers who have graduated from Trinity Western will discriminate against homosexuals in the classroom. For this reason, the BCCT is refusing to grant automatic professional certification to graduates of Trinity Western’s education degree program, requiring them instead to complete one year of their degree course at a public university.
Attorneys for Trinity Western counter that the BCCT’s actions amount to religious intolerance; that the BCCT’s ruling discriminates against individuals who hold Christian beliefs. They also point out that BCCT has brought forward no evidence that teachers who have graduated from Trinity Western have discriminated, or are likely to discriminate, against homosexuals.
“The BCCT is arguing that a teacher who believes in Christianity, including its ban on homosexual behavior, cannot and should not participate in the public sphere,” says Chipeur.
The Adventist Church in Canada, along with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, are “interveners” in the case, filing briefs and presenting argument in support of Trinity Western.
“This case is especially significant for Adventists,” says Chipeur. He points out that the Alberta-based Canadian University College, which is owned and operated by the Adventist Church, also has a code of conduct prohibiting extramarital and homosexual activity among its staff and students. A win for the BCCT in the Trinity Western case could foreshadow similar attacks on the professional certification of CUC’s education degree program, says Chipeur.
According to Chipeur, an adverse outcome in this case may have an even broader impact on Christians in Canada. If the court rules against Trinity Western, says Chipeur, then individuals from all professions—nurses, pharmacists, accountants, lawyers may be forced to abandon their Christian beliefs about sexual conduct or be deprived of their professional accreditation.
Since the mid-1800s, the Adventist Church has promoted religious freedom and tolerance for all people of faith. An official position statement released by the church in 1995 affirms “freedom of conscience and religion as a fundamental human right.”
Canada’s Supreme Court is expected to rule on the Trinity Western case within the next 12 months.