Stanley Fish: Another Day, Another Steaming Pile of Shit in the Times

[PVnRT]

Being Neutral is Oh So Hard to Do

Apparently, the Christian Legal Society at UC-Hastings School of Law sued to be recognized officially, despite the school's official policy that no registered student organization (RSO) can deny full membership to anyone. The CLS allows anyone to participate, but only those who sign a loyalty oath statement agreeing to be a good, uptight upright Christian can be full members who can vote and hold office. Any student group at UC-Hastings can use school facilities for meetings and hold meetings.

The chief advantage of being an RSO, it seems, is getting funding from the school.

Mr. "Neutral" Stanley Fish, of course, uses lots of solipsism to basically state that a Christian group should be able to do whatever the hell it wants and still get recognized. They're not barred from holding meetings or doing anything else. They just don't get funding.

Funny how they're only concerned about "rights" when it's predominantly white Christians whining about not getting free money while they discriminate.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. I stopped at "Alito is right". -nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Fish (and Alito) seem to be arguing that the only prejudiced people are Christians

The question, then, is does the Hastings all-comers policy involve a viewpoint-neutral restriction that only incidentally sweeps up C.L.S. in its wake, or is the policy, as Justice Alito claims, designed to discriminate against the Christian viewpoint?

The policy 'discriminates' against the prejudiced. It does not mention one particular form of prejudice - it covers racism and sexism as well as homophobia. So, Alito is claiming that being against any form of prejudice is being against 'the Christian viewpoint' (and designed to be, not just against various things, one of which happens to be one version of 'the Christian viewpoint').

Fish tries to explain this away as a 'belief/conduct' distinction; but they are not ruling on the beliefs of the society; they are ruling on its conduct, ie its banning of certain people from offices. Fish and Alito seem to be saying their belief (in prejudice) compels the Christian society to act in a discriminatory fashion. And that the university has to support that with money and facilities. Fish is full of shit. Would he say a Nazi group had to be funded, because the members were 'genuinely' antisemitic or racist?