For many people, college offers a space of personal liberation, a time when one can form and - more importantly - express their opinions. As you know, many gay people take advantage of the relative freedom to come out. Of course, not everyone's so keen on broadening their horizons.

Consider a case unfolding in England: a number of Christian organizations have been temporarily banned following accusations that they discriminate against non-Christians.

Needless to say this has caused a bit of a stir - most notably from Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams (pictured with eyebrows) - who equate the bannings with a crack down on anti-nuclear protesters. Britain's The Times reports:

Christians on campuses across Britain are claiming that their right to freedom of expression is being challenged by student associations attempting to force Christian unions to allow anybody, regardless of faith, ethnicity or sexuality, to sit on committees and address meetings. The Christian unions say that they should be allowed to restrict committee membership to those who share their beliefs.

In his first intervention in the debate, Dr. [Rowan] Williams said that it was becoming impossible for traditional Christians and Muslims to state their views without being accused of something “akin to holocaust denial or racial bigotry”.

Williams goes on to say, “If disagreement is to be silenced because offence may be caused, that is not good for intellectual life." That's certainly a valid point, we think. A gay group, however, would most likely bar a homophobe from their meetings, so why shouldn't anti-gay Christians be allowed to ban people who disagree with their beliefs?

Any takers?