Time, place, manner 

The California State University system seems to be heading into sketchy water. With a "commitment" to upholding the First Amendment rights of its faculty and staff, the Chancellor's Office issued a directive that bars disruptive protests on its 23 campuses.

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As one Cal Poly student put it: "If a protest is not disruptive, then no one has any reason to ever listen to us," Juls Altman said. "If it doesn't ever disrupt university operations, then they quite literally don't ever need to listen to us because it's not impacting them in any way."

Exactly. There's no point in protesting if no one can see you, hear you, or feel you as they go about their day.

In that same piece of policy—aka the Time, Place, and Manner directive—the CSU also states that verbiage on protest signs be approved by an administrator. Sounds very free!

But don't worry, everyone: "Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of a democratic society and is essential to the educational process," according to the directive. You just have to do it when, where, and how the largest university system in California tells you to. Phew! Amirite?

Also, no masking while you protest. Those administrators want to put their beady little controlling eyes on your face if you're not following the freedom of expression rules.

You guys think whoever's in charge of verbiage control would approve a sign that said, "CSU Administrators Suck"?

Want to block a campus entrance to make a statement? Can't do that.

Want to strike for higher wages? That's fine, as long as it doesn't disrupt anything on campus.

Want to protest Lockheed Martin outside of a jobs fair? Don't get in anyone's way.

Want to protest the biggest asshole on the internet who's coming to speak his racist, misogynist, anti-LGBTQ-plus propaganda on Cal Poly's campus? Don't interrupt him! Shh!

Want to question Cal Poly's non-diverse, non-inclusive ways? Oof, guys. That sign's definitely not getting approved.

WTF, California? Aren't we supposed to be this liberal state with this liberal education system that's instilling liberal views into the heads of all the students we're supposed to be indoctrinating? How are we supposed to do that without protesting?

I have another question. What does "disrupt" mean?

Well, the California Faculty Association is also wondering about the vague verbiage in this directive that the Chancellor's Office didn't speak about before it was issued.

"We're supposed to be consulted before these types of changes, and they haven't done that yet, so the law is pretty clear on our side," Cameron Jones, the political action and legislative rep for Cal Poly's chapter of the California Faculty Association (CFA), said.

The whole thing feels a little over the top. It's obviously a response to the fallout from pro-Palestine protests that got out of hand on college campuses across the country during the last school year. And the CSU used the encampments as an excuse also quash all kinds of good trouble, such as any future CFA strike like the one that happened in January.

Seems dicey, California. And it's definitely not great for our reputation.

Just like these political church questionnaires going out to local candidates. If the word gets out that we've got conservatives meddling in our elections, who's going to believe that everyone in the state is a progressive?

These religious nonprofits with their tax-exempt status seem to be toeing a line they might not be able to toe.

Calvary Chapel Paso Robles paid to send the questionnaires to school board candidates in Atascadero and Paso via certified mail! That's how serious this is, everyone. Calvary just wants to share the answers with its flock; there's no persuasion happening here. Ignore the loaded questions about marriage, abortion, and gender identity.

"Do you support or oppose ... amending the California Constitution in 2024 to remove the definition of marriage as 'only between a man and a woman,'" the questionnaire asked.

It's not like the culture war is in your mailbox, even though as a school board member, you really don't weigh in on things like marriage and abortion. And candidates' answers were going to be posted on Real Impact's California Voters Guide website. Real Impact seems to be an organization started by Calvary Church Chino Hills.

It aims to equip the church "to stand for righteousness in the public square."

California Assembly and Senate, Congress, and 12 school districts are part of the voter guide—and of course the presidential race. It offers "impartial information on candidates," according to the website. "The voter guide never tells you how to vote but only provides the candidate's positions on various issues, in their own words."

Funny how a religious-affiliated organization decided it needed to exploit a loophole so it could keep not paying taxes and still weigh in on the election without weighing in on the election ... nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

Seems to be catching on outside of the Calvary umbrella. Grace Bible Church in Arroyo Grande got in on the "nonpartisan" partisan action by sending out a similar survey to Lucia Mar Unified School District board candidates, while Harvest Church in Arroyo Grande sent one to City Council candidates.

These churches have Time, Place, and Manner down to a science.

But it sounds like trying to influence an election to me. Somebody call the IRS. Δ

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