Sometimes, a lone voice in the wilderness sparks a media wildfire.
Los Angeles City College student Jonathan Lopez was assigned to present an informative talk to his speech class on a subject of his choosing. He chose to share about his Christian faith. During his speech, he was profanely insulted by his professor – and even faced threats of expulsion – for humbly expressing his beliefs.
The Alliance Defense Fund is representing Jonathan in a lawsuit against the college, and his case has torched a firestorm of international media attention, resulting in an outpouring of support for this unassuming inner-city youth mentor. So egregious was his treatment that the unthinkable happened: The Los Angeles Times editorialized in favor of ADF:
“As Lopez’s lawyers point out in their federal complaint, the courts have ruled that public schools may not discriminate against student speech because it is religious in character … (the professor) deserves a failing grade in Free Speech 101 (The Los Angeles Times, February 27, 2009).”
The Las Vegas Review-Journal and The Bakersfield Californian were among the other publications editorializing their support for Jonathan’s position.
But Jonathan’s voice wasn’t the only powerful one ADF broadcast to the culture. ADF attorneys aggressively defended religious liberty in multiple appearances on top-rated Fox News Channel programs, including The O’Reilly Factor, Hannity, and Fox & Friends. On radio, ADF debated marriage for a full hour on The Hugh Hewitt Show. NPR programs All Things Considered and Morning Edition featured ADF commentary on health workers’ right of conscience.
While many are encouraging Christians to submerge their convictions about life, liberty, and family to the new political reality in Washington, ADF is in fact escalating the defense of liberty across America and continuing to win ground in the national media. After all, that wildfire Jonathan Lopez started is still burning – and sparks are catching flame all over America.
To learn more about current ADF cases that affect your religious freedom, visit www.telladf.org/news today.
