By Dr. Stanley Carlson-Thies Nearly 110,000 comments on a seemingly obscure proposed change to the federal contracting regulations were recently received by the U.S. Department…
Religious organizations often do things that others disagree with or may even consider harmful. But civil society – the zone of religious as well as secular non-governmental organizations – is the place of voluntary mixing and matching. In this lecture from Dr. Stanley Carlson-Thies as part of the Religious Freedom Institute’s FORIS lecture series, Carlson-Thies says that when these organizations are allowed to be distinctive, then job seekers can find a compatible workplace, and then students, patients, and customers can find a place best suited for their particular needs and convictions. Not all difference is harmful discrimination; much is positive pluralism.
An August 15th Trump administration proposal to clarify the religious hiring rights of religious employers in federal contracting is being labeled a “license to discriminate” against LGBT job seekers. Dr. Stanley Carlson-Thies suggests an alternative framework for understanding this proposed rulemaking: it is a much-needed effort to affirm the religious staffing freedom that exists in the federal contracting rules and that was left untouched when President Obama added protections for LGBT people. There are not many religious organizations that contract with the federal government (in distinction from receiving federal grants). Still, the proposed changes are important protections for their religious rights and important also for ensuring that such organizations—who may be the best providers of goods and services—are not excluded from eligibility.
By Dr. Stanley Carlson-Thies Editor’s Note: In the wake of an agreement between President Trump and bipartisan congressional leaders on a two-year budget framework, the…
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) has allowed courts to neutrally balance compelling government interests with religious beliefs ever since it was enacted in 1993 by a bipartisan Congress. Now, Democratic members of the House and Senate have reintroduced the Do No Harm Act, a bill that would disallow religious objections to key government actions, including LGBT inclusion and reproductive health. On June 25, 2019, the House Committee on Education and Labor held a hearing on the Do No Harm Act. Representative Joseph Kennedy, who introduced the Do No Harm Act in 2017 and has now reintroduced it, expressed his concern that RFRA “has morphed from a shield of protection to a sword of infringement.” Yet RFRA does not guarantee a victory for religious actors, only a fair weighing of their claims. To adequately protect religious freedom, RFRA should not be modified.
Founder and Senior Director of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance Dr. Stanley Carlson-Thies spoke at the University of St. Thomas Law School’s symposium on “Religious Freedom and the Common Good” in March of 2018. His lecture transcript, along with those from fellow speakers at the symposium, has been published in the University of St. Thomas Law Journal.
The passage of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created the so-called “church parking tax,” a burdensome provision for nonprofits that has elicited strong protests from the sacred sector. The IRS has issued interpretive guidelines, and efforts in Congress are ongoing to eliminate the tax entirely, yet fixes are slow in coming. Given the Trump administration’s professions of support for religious freedom and the many congressional voices in favor of the work of charitable organizations, it is surprising that this provision was adopted in the first place and troubling that it has not yet been eliminated. Faith-based organizations need to be aware of this issue and understand how it affects them.
The House of Representatives passed the Equality Act on May 17, 2019, to add to federal civil rights law new prohibitions on discrimination on the bases of sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as other protections. As Stanley Carlson-Thies points out, the Act is unlikely to be taken up by the Senate. This is good news because the Equality Act as drafted and passed would have multiple negative consequences for religious freedom. The article notes major religious freedom critiques, including denominational and other voices proposing a “fairness for all” alternative that would simultaneously protect LGBT and religious rights.
By Dr. Stanley Carlson-Thies Editor’s Note: A more in-depth conversation about the implications of the passage of the Equality Act was featured on the Faith…
Dr. Stanley Carlson-Thies, a strong and outspoken champion for the rights and freedoms of faith-based organizations, is the 2019 recipient of the Religious Liberty Dinner National Award. Dr. Carlson-Thies, founder and senior director of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance (IRFA), has worked for almost two decades to help shape the public discourse in America around the contributions of faith communities to the well-being of society.