Should campus religious groups be allowed to discriminate against gay students? Is discriminatory and hateful speech protected by the Constitution? At what point does campus-mandated equality infringe on the freedom of religious groups to practice their beliefs?

Such questions as they pertain to the First Amendment were debated at the panel discussion, "Discrimination: Free Speech and Religious Liberty vs. Equality and Respect?" Sept. 22 in Sage Chapel.

Panelist Charles Haynes, a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center, cited the national same-sex marriage debate as the current battleground of the conflict between religious liberty and egalitarian equality. He said that privately he supports gay rights but also supports protecting religious groups under the First Amendment; he later added that he was on the side of valuing liberty over equality.

Panelist Steven Shiffrin of Cornell Law School proclaimed himself to be a "pulverizer" of opinions with admittedly "outlier" views. He stressed that he believes a group has every right to discriminate under the First Amendment, noting that Cornell, however, as a private institution, does not have to allow such discrimination on campus. He said he does not believe the First Amendment protects hate speech and that it has no place on campus. Haynes disagreed, saying that every type of speech, no matter how seemingly hateful, should be protected by the First Amendment. He encouraged speech of all types on campuses, which are intended to be homes to ideas. Shiffrin countered with a rhetorical example of whether the Ku Klux Klan could legally be allowed on campus under Haynes' guidelines, to which Haynes responded they couldn't because "that would lead to a withdrawal of federal funding."

The debate returned to religious matters with a discussion of whether groups that discriminate should be subsidized by the Student Assembly Finance Commission. Haynes said religious groups that discriminate due to conscience should be treated like any other. Shiffrin explained that it is constitutional to seek an abortion or a private school education, but the government is not obliged to pay for it. He explained that discriminatory groups can exist on campus, but by discriminating on basis of membership, they forfeit their right to obtain subsidies.

"We're all a minority somewhere," said Haynes in concluding the discussion, adding that the majority should treat the minority how they would like to be treated if roles were reversed, and that upholding the First Amendment requires protecting the rights of those with whom you disagree.

The event was sponsored by Cornell United Religious Work and the Office of the Dean of Students; it is part of an ongoing series highlighting CURW's 80th anniversary.

Jordan Walters '11 is a writer intern at the Cornell Chronicle.