Faith v/s Freedom: Critical Analysis

This analysis discusses the role and differences between faith-based organizations and the LGBTQ community in Canada, focusing on legal cases and the changing views towards both communities.

Running Head: CRITICAL ANALYSIS 1
Faith v/s Freedom
(Student Details: )

CRITICAL ANALYSIS 2
Introduction
In this analysis, the discussion will be based on the role and differences between the
faith-based organizations and the LGBTQ in Canada and how the views have changed
regarding both the communities. This Report will summarise the cases in reflecting both the
Communities which will further be examined in accordance with Canada i.e. TWU v. College
of Teachers and the more recent case of TWU v. Law Society of Upper Canada.
Faith-Based Organization
The faith-based organizations are a set of people who works and aim in uniting
towards spiritual or religious beliefs. They function in order to satisfy the cultural, spiritual,
and social needs of their members by making eminent efforts in accordance with the
organization. So, these organizations are directed over for the long term value as they are
intent to motivate issues relating to health problems, mobilizing schools, agencies of
government, and professionals of health care in all communities (Moyer & Scharper, 2019).
However, various communities are realizing the importance of inviting such faith-based
organizations with the community health planning system. Also, they have genuinely come
across the most reliable institutions because of its positive recognition amongst the cultural
and ethnic group which connects to the large mass of people (Clarke & Ware, Understanding
faith-based organizations: How FBOs are contrasted with NGOs in international development
literature, 2015).
Till recently, these faith-based organizations are mostly connected with the ideologies
of Christian churches and religious organizations. These organizations play an important role
in the Canadian economic and community development.

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LGBTQ
The term used here is mainly helpful in understanding the sexual orientation of any
individual or identity which is related to their gender. The full form of the term is Lesbian,
Gay, and Bisexual, transgender Questioning or Queer. The word queer defines that any
specific thing which exists apart from normal or dominant narrative and LGBT is a complete
community so; the term can be simply explained as that kind of community which is
specifically different from other dominant factors or nature (Smith, 2019). Beginning of the
LGBT community was started in 1980 before the term was eventually used as homosexual
and later it was replaced with Homophile. At first, the individuals who were linked to this
community had to face many challenges in the society in every sector, sometimes they also
had to struggle in their own family too (Gahagan & Malaret, 2018). With the change in time,
people of this community raised their voice for their rights and respect in society. Also, there
is a huge debate on this concept of same-sex marriage which is coming across the universities
and colleges in Canada.
In consideration of this case, Trinity Western University v. British Columbia College
of Teachers (1998) B.C.J No.1142, In this case, the main question raised was relating to the
unjust costs in section 7 of the British Columbia Supreme Court rules reflects the application
provided by the Trinity University for increased cost assessments. In this litigation Trinity
was liable for compensation as the teacher has refused to provide certificate for the education
program which affected its prestige. This case raised the constitutional and human rights
issues. More than one council was employed by Trinity to council this case but the
percentage which Trinity would have actually received was very low according to the scale.
This was a case of great importance for Trinity to raise their issues which were of national
and provincial significance. It dealt with complex issues which were not litigated, justified or
counselled previously.

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As, both the parties including TWU which is an educational institution and the teacher
college program which reflects upon the actual cost that TWU had paid the amount of
$174,200 in which the taxes and other disbursement were not included (Woolley & Salyzyn,
20019). It is assumed as an injustice when the ordinary cost does match up with the 50%
requirements of the special cost. The expected cost is below than 50% and is referred to be as
unjust. Also, it will be justified if the awarded amount is the difference between the 50%
below of expected and the increased cost. The increased cost will be justified only on the
facts and upon the relevant legal issues which are to be dealt and applied to the case. The
importance of this case was related to the increased cost which had to be awarded to either of
the parties by the court (Ross, 2019). In aspect of this case, the respondent and the petitioner
both presented their arguments in an organized and well specific manner. The reason stated
by the respondent is not to grant any kind of rights to certify teachers along with the
constitutional and human rights issues in the context of TWU (Clarke & Phelan, Teacher
Education and the Political, 2017).
However, the inconsistency which created between the ordinary costs and the special
costs which further to be justified as an award for increased costs to be given by to either of
the parties as per the calculation of 60% of the special cost. Therefore, it was found that
TWU is a non-profit university and maintain all its funding through the donations and by
conducting tuitions. So, it was in favour of the Trinity Western University and the
respondents arguments had failed.
Trinity Western University v. British Columbia College of Teachers, (1998) B.C.J
No.3029
The appeal was issued by the TWU as when they organized a special program for
teachers for training teachers were declining their applications. As, TWU is a Christian

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religion based university and they were against the homosexual behaviour according to their
document of responsibilities, for them it was such an unlawful practice which is against the
bible and it was an act of getting punished (Hall & Ike, 2017). There was no any evidence
available to anyone that the university is prohibiting the individuals who are not ready to sign
the document or the application in which that person has to accept that they will not follow
homosexual practices in their personal life. The same condition was also implemented with
the teacher education program in which the committee passed the applications on this
condition but the association of teachers denied the application by declaring it that the TWU
is performing unfair activity which is not valid or in favour of public (Thornicroft & Wm.,
2018). At first, when the appeal of TWU was accepted by the trail judge later he found that it
was a mistake done by the council by preparing the act and the policies which were
implemented by the university they were against the Human right code and Canadian charter
right and freedom so the appeal of TWU was dismissed by the court.
Trinity Western University v. British Columbia College of Teachers (2001)
The Trinity Western University is a Christian based university which is jointly
functioning by Trinity Western and by Simon Fraser University. According to the case, the
college rejected all those applications which were against the communities of school and their
standard policies. Such applications got rejected because of homo-sexual behaviour
prevailing amongst the students, faculty and other staff members. As, the college truly follow
the religious culture and faith beliefs so they prohibit such people in their premises. The
Court accepted the religious perception of the university rather than to avoid these beliefs in
the public environment which in the end upon the element of ‘acted unfairly ’towards the
Trinity Western application and rejected the same.
Trinity Western University v. Law Society of British Columbia, (2016) B.C.J No. 2252

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The appeal was filed by the Law Society of British Columbia against the Trinity
Western University. As, the institution is based on Christianity norms and values so, they
refrain all such individuals who are indulged into the sexual intimacy which is violating the
actual sacredness of marriage. The Law Society acted upon such discretion and they
disapproved such issues of same-sex marriage that is affecting the religious freedom of many
individuals. It was reviewed by the court that such University should be given acceptance or
not as a recognised faculty of law. The reason for this was its biased nature towards the
LGBTQ and freedom of religion which will severely impact the public interest. So, it was
further dismissed by the court on the grounds of being unreasonable.
Trinity Western University v. Law Society of Upper Canada SCC (2018)
This University is a follower of Christianity as an institution that is a faith-based
organization which is prohibiting the LGBTQ community and covering the following facts
that are relating to the religious code of conduct accordance to the Community Covenant
Agreement. They prohibit the ‘sexual intimacy’ developing amongst the same-sex which is
violating the actual relationship of marriage between a man and a woman. The University of
Trinity was unable to fulfil the appeal for their perceptions in Divisional court of Ontario and
also was unsuccessful in the court of the appeal. The university was following on their strict
religious-based concepts at some point they were harming the people mentally and
emotionally by rejecting their applications for admission, job, etc. With the change in time
the mentality of people also got changed. Earlier when LGBT was not accepted in the society
but later on it was legally accepted in most of the countries but on the basis of religion they
were humiliated in many ways. The judgement was given that every person has their own
rights to get opportunity and access to their demand and choice and that is so why it was a
reasonable decision. The law which was passed in favour of the decision where it does not

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violate or limit the freedom of religion because they provide judgment on the issue which
was faced by the many students, teachers and other people.
Law Society of British Columbia v. Trinity Western University, (2018) SCC 32
In this case, where the LSBC passed the judgment over to protect such individuals
and for the interest of public that they have the right to choose the platform for their career
and for this there should be no any barrier has to be implemented by any organization which
are based on the beliefs, and religion which may harm the values and emotions of other
public community. The judgement passed by the Law Society of British Columbia was
logical in defining the meaning of equality by eliminating the barriers which prohibit access
for any legal profession in terms of religion or other beliefs. For the student who want to
choose the law as their profession they do not have other options apart from trinity university
and unfortunately the people of LGBTQ community they had to follow the beliefs of
someone else but the Law Society of British Columbia they impose the law on statutory
belief and ordered to eliminate the policy which affects the public values (Bussey, 2018).
Critical Analysis
According to Christianity laws, the marriage is a gift which is solemnized between a
man and a woman with purity and soul. It is that environment which provides the right to
build a family life and to getting engage in a sexual relationship. It is the act which is
performed under a public declaration of love and commitment, which is made amongst the
presence of family and friends. Wherein, the case of Trinity western university was raised
where they prohibit people who follow the LGBTQ practice and also do not allow them to
take admission in their university (Ginn & Kindred, 2017). University was based upon
Christianity and they consider the same-sex relationship as a sin and considered against the
Bible norms. According to them, sexual intimacy is totally preserved between a man and

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woman only; it holds the purity of this particular relation. To further take any sort of
admission they provide the document which is to be signed by the student, teachers and other
people before connecting with the university. They have to accept the agreement that they
will not violate the sacred rules of the Bible by getting engaged in same-sex relationship
inside or outside of the university, the individual should not follow such practice in his/her
personal life, if any applicant who refuses to accept this agreement he/she get reject to take
admission in university (Brettschneider, Burgess, & Keating, 2017). In earlier times leaders
of Christianity were not accepting the homosexual relation because according to them it was
an act of immorality and sin. In bible, it is written that a man has to leave his parents if he has
to accept a wife for his life and then those two different shells becomes one flesh. It is
mentioned in the Bible in Mark 10:6-8, quoting Genesis 2:24. The bible never accepts any
kind of dissipation and immorality in sexual relations even if it homosexual or heterosexual.
According to the Bible, human creation is designed in the image of God under their dignity
and values so there should be no such practices performed by us which leads the human
community towards sins.
The Legal petition was filed on basis of two important social facts in which freedom
of religion and promotion of equality were included; this petition was filed on each other. The
high court gives the ruling that there should be access to get opportunity and platform to
choose a legal profession and in that no any belief has to consider which may harm the public
values or environment (Jaekel, 2016). According to the statement which was given by the
council of the university that they are an excellent university which will always remain
biblically based. They will always follow the Christ-centred trend in their system (Hunt,
2016).
When several laws were passed after that the university declared that student does not
have to sign on the agreement of policy of university but these changes were not

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implemented on teaching staff and non-student staff, for them the rules were same. TWU was
following a belief which was totally biased and contradictory for the current society; they
said that they were too ready to give access to LGBT students and employees but only in the
case when they will accept the heterosexual relations on the basis bible and there should be a
change in relating to the sexual orientation and all such people should be treated with equal
rights and conditions (Bloomfield & Fisher, 2016).
In bible, Leviticus 20:13 (cf. 18:22) defines that abdominal lie executed by a man
with man or woman with a woman will be the reason behind the offensive activity against
god and his creation. This would be considered as a crime similar to capital crimes like incest
and adultery; it is the violation of natural law. From the beginning attitude towards the
homosexual was complicated by every religion or community. According to the beliefs, the
practices which are getting performed by every person show the religious value of that
person. Therefore, most of the religions avoid this factor to accept.
Later on by some experts, it was declared that bible is considered as story god’s love
for each person of the world, not a book which is written for human sexuality (Gower, Rider,
& McMorris, 2018). The verses of the bible were written by considering culture and time and
most of them are not logical to be considering now. Holy Spirit taught that each of the verse
written in the bible by God should not be considered for all the time. So, the LGBT
community which is following by the people is not any kind of practice which leads human
religion or values (Iskander & Shabtay, 2018). The person who follows homosexual
behaviour does not harm freedom of religion because it is the term which reflects the
protection of and safety of ethics for each and every person.

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Conclusion
This report concluded about the conflict between the faiths based organization and
LGBTQ where the term LGBTQ defines with the community which follows homosexual
relations. In the report, several cases were analysed which were related to faith-based
organization and the community of LGBTQ. The university rejected the application of many
students, teachers and other non-teaching staff who followed the homosexual relations in
their personal life. The University asked them to follow the policies and the values of their
Christian University. They will accept only those people who follow their biblically faiths
and religion. This issue was also raised in many law committees and many laws were passed
on it with the time and cases. Firstly, when it was declared that university is doing as per their
terms and norms but with the changes in time and thought process it was made in the
judgments along with its declaration that university is conducting an act which is harmful to
the public environment. So, the biases should be eradicated in aspect to practice any religious
freedom, rights, profession, and every individual shall have the choice of getting married
according to their own will as Jesus has never discriminated on any grounds of
homosexuality and others.

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References
Bloomfield, V. E., & Fisher, M. E. (2016). LGBTQ Voices in Education. New Yok:
Routledge.
Brettschneider, M., Burgess, S., & Keating, C. (2017). LGBTQ Politics: A Critical Reader.
NYU Press.
Bussey, B. W. (2018). Law Society of British Columbia v Trinity Western University: 2018
SCC 32: Supreme Court of Canada: McLachlin CJ, Abella, Moldaver,
Karakatsanis, Wagner, Gascon, Côté, Brown, and Rowe JJ. Law and Religion,
572–573.
Clarke, M., & Phelan, A. (2017). Teacher Education and the Political. London: Routledge.
Clarke, M., & Ware, V. A. (2015). Understanding faith-based organizations: How FBOs are
contrasted with NGOs in international development literature. Progress in
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Gahagan, J., & Malaret, M. S. (2018). Improving pathways to primary health care among
LGBTQ populations and health care providers: key findings from Nova Scotia,
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Ginn, D., & Kindred, K. (2017). Pluralism, Autonomy and Resistance: A Canadian
Perspective on Resolving Conflicts between Freedom of Religion and lgbtq Rights.
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Gower, A. L., Rider, G. N., & McMorris, B. J. (2018). Bullying Victimization Among
LGBTQ Youth: Critical Issues and Future Directions. Current Sexual Health
Reports, 246–254.

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Hall, & Ike, M. F. (2017). Navigating Change: A Study of British Columbia University-
College Governing Board Responses to the Change in Status from University-
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Hunt, S. (2016). Religion and LGBTQ Sexualities. London: Routledge.
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Charter Jurisprudence. Supreme Court Law Review.
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Making after Trinity Western University. Canadian Bar Review, 30.

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