United States: What Religious Freedom?

 

01/24/2013 United States (CP) -Today, while much of the nation is still celebrating this week's presidential inauguration, we want to call attention to another day the president has asked America to commemorate. President Obama recently proclaimed January 16 Religious Freedom Day. Let's be blunt: this proclamation has people familiar with the president's notably poor record on religious freedom scratching their heads. It almost seems like a bad joke.

The proclamation rightly commends founding fathers Jefferson and Madison for their defense of the rights of all men to "profess...their opinions in matters of religion." And it says, "[R]eligious liberty is not just an American right; it is a universal human right to be protected here at home and across the globe."

All tremendous words! So the disconnect with the president's actual record on religious freedom could not be more dramatic and disturbing. Here are just three of several examples:

A few weeks ago, the White House announced that Atlanta pastor Louie Giglio would offer the benediction at the upcoming inauguration. Giglio's laudable efforts in combating sexual trafficking had earned him the attention and praise of the president. However, when a blog broke the "news" that Giglio had preached the biblical message concerning the morality of sexual relations, he was pressured to step aside. Giglio learned that under the current administration, a pastor holding the positions set forth in the scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and other faiths is disqualified from participating in one of the great ceremonies of our civic life.

In 2012, the Department of Health and Human Resources implemented a rule under Obamacare that forces employers to subsidize the cost of contraception and abortion-inducing drugs. With the narrowest of exceptions, all organizations are required to comply, regardless of any conflict with the mandates of conscience. This includes faith-based hospitals, charities, schools, small businesses and major corporations like arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby and Bible publisher Tyndale, which face huge fines for each day they fail to comply with the rule.

Finally, the Obama administration ordered the Justice Department to cease enforcement of the duly enacted Defense of Marriage Act signed into law by President Clinton, and ended the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. One not-so-unintended result of these actions is that American military chaplains are being pressured to accommodate and affirm same-sex sexual conduct and relationships despite their religious convictions(Source).

Louisiana: Sidewalk Sunday School Kicked To The Curb

06/04/2012 United States (Charisma News) - A Sunday school program for at-risk youth has been thrown out of its public meeting place in Baton Rogue, La. But Voices of Mercy Outreach Ministries isn’t giving up on the kids it loves so easily.

The East Baton Rouge Recreation and Park Commission kicked Voices of Mercy Outreach Ministries' Sidewalk Sunday School to the curb due to a ban on religious activities. The commission may end up rethinking its stance, though, since Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorneys filed a federal lawsuit against it.
“Faith-based groups shouldn’t be singled out for discrimination—especially a group like this that has provided such selfless service to at-risk youth and their parents for many years,” says ADF senior legal counsel Joel Oster. “The Sidewalk Sunday School program has the same constitutionally protected right as any other community group to hold its activities at a public park. There’s no constitutional basis to throw them out, and it’s a mystery why the commission would even want to do so in light of the valuable work this group does for the community.”

Voices of Mercy Outreach Ministries had operated at a public park for five years before the ban stymied its efforts. However, ADF said the commission allowed at least one other religious group to hold an event at the park despite the so-called ban. ADF says the commission actually invited a local church to host a Community Outreach Day that included the distribution of religious literature(Source).

FedEx Employee Vindicated In Religious Discrimination Suit

And the Western Persecution of my American brethren in Christ continues to happen:

05/16/2012 United States (Charisma) - Eric Weathers was just trying to answer a few of his coworker’s questions about the Bible. But the Chicago FedEx employee’s boss told him that discussions about religion and politics were “forbidden in the workplace.”

When the boss refused to tell Weathers why, the Christian employee asked a human resources representative for an explanation. The response: His speech was an “act detrimental to the company”—a designation given to sexual harassment, possession of illegal drugs or weapons in the workplace, theft, workplace violence and other egregious acts.

Then, in a reported act of hypocrisy, Weathers’ boss engaged in religious speech two weeks after she banned him from discussing the Bible. The supervisor first ordered him to define the term atheism and later sent him an email stating, “The man upstairs is watching...” The e-mail included a picture of a Baptist church marquee that stated, “God has seen your [business report] numbers. You’re going to hell!”

In response to the workplace persecution, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) filed a case against FedEx on Weathers’ behalf. Weathers won the case. U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang denied FedEx’s motion for summary judgment in January after finding “enough evidence … for a reasonable jury to find that Weathers suffered the requisite significant negative alteration in the workplace” to constitute an “adverse employment action” as a result of FedEx’s failure to accommodate his religion.

“Weathers’ superiors told him that he could not discuss religion, even if asked, and he was told that he must affirmatively misrepresent his college degree,” wrote Judge Chang. Weathers holds a bachelor’s degree in Bible and youth ministry from The Master’s College, and is pursuing his Master’s of Divinity from The Master’s Seminary(Source).