CNN is reporting that Mid Vermont Christian School’s (“MVCS“) high school girls’ basketball team was deemed ineligible to play in future state-sponsored activities after forfeiting a game against a team with a transgender student-athlete (biological male). MVCS has sued educational authorities in Vermont, alleging religious discrimination and asserting that the state was punishing the school because of its religious beliefs.
In a lawsuit filed on November 21, 2023, MVCS and several families allege that Vermont educational authorities were unlawfully coercing the school to follow policies which prevented the school from “operating consistently with their religious beliefs about sexuality and gender” by denying the school access to state-sponsored public benefits and athletic programs.
MVCS Basketball Coach Chris Goodwin told CNN that he’s coached the team for 10 years, and stated that “when our girls’ basketball team was scheduled to play against a biological male in last year’s state tournament, our school decided to withdraw from the tournament and forfeit the game due to our religious beliefs. Now, [the State of] Vermont is not allowing us to compete in any state-sponsored sports. As a coach and parent, I did not think I would have to tell my daughter that she could not compete in school sports for our Christian worldview.”
The CNN article may be read HERE.
My brothers and sisters, this is why FGGAM is so emphatic about the importance of living our lives from a biblical or Christian worldview! Civil governments have increasingly operated in a highly-secularized manner and perspective, and have made every effort to strip away the rights of believers to express our Christian faith in public – even in our schools.
In fact, the CNN article mentions that the State of Vermont’s governing body for school sports provided a statement saying that it declared MVCS ineligible because it viewed the school’s decision to forfeit a game as “[imposing its Christian] beliefs on students from other public and private schools; [denying] students from other schools the opportunity to play; or [hurting] students from other schools because of who those students are.”
In other words, the logic is that if one chooses NOT to do something (ironically, giving the other team an automatic win), then that decision is somehow IMPOSING one’s will and worldview upon another person or entity. The only coercion here is from the State of Vermont! It seems to this writer that the State of Vermont is well-positioned to lose in court – and it should.
FGGAM unapologetically believes in, and operates from, the perspective of a biblical worldview!
According to the FGGAM website’s front page:
“The biblical worldview says there is a God—One who is personal, powerful and caring—who created the world and everything in it. It states unequivocally that man is created in God’s image, living in essence as God’s co-regent over creation. Mankind—born and unborn, rich and poor, able and disabled—has intrinsic worth. Almighty God is a sovereign God, ruler over nations, states, empires, and governments. He is to be worshiped and obeyed through the precepts and principles revealed in His infallible Word. He not only exists, but He is sovereign over all of history according to His wisdom and purposes, and He is intimately involved in every aspect of life.”
Praise Jesus forevermore!