Supreme Court sides with churches in employment fights

[Lasher]

Source: The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday (Jan. 11) unanimously threw its support behind a church school that fired a teacher, using a widely watched church-state case to bolster a legal doctrine that exempts religious institutions from some civil rights laws.

Religious groups heralded the ruling as a firm assertion of religious freedom that keeps personnel decisions about religious employees where they should be: within a church, synagogue, or mosque.

<snip>

“The really terrible thing about this decision is that if you fire someone and religion is just a pretext, it can’t be addressed by courts,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

“It’s just a gigantic new exception, a new loophole to the civil rights law for religious groups that will not be shut in a very long time — if ever.”

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/supreme-court-sides-with-churches-in-employment-fights/2012/01/11/gIQAjwxhrP_story.html

---

Unanimous decision. Organizations are above the law if they cite a religious excuse. Corporations are people. These are dark days indeed.

[No Elephants]

1. I'd feel a lot better about this decision if separation of church and state were a two way street.

The separation only seems to tie government's hands, though, while public parks can have nativity scenes and state and federal capitols can have Christmas tree and menorah lightings. And jolly Saint Nick is considered a secular symbol that counterbalances a nativity scene.

And don't even get me started on faith-based initiatives.

(BTW, Romney was big on those when he was Governor of Massachusetts and supposedly helping victims of Katrina/Rita.)

[Lasher]

2. So, what do you think about faith-based initiatives?

:hide:

[No Elephants]

5. I believe in total separation of church and state.

I totally support churches doing charitable things, but oppose any government involvement in them.

We got along fine for a couple of hundred years without government mixing in FBI, as they are affectionately known.

[Lasher]

6. The White House Office of Faith Based Initiatives is clearly unconstitutional.

I was disappointed when Obama didn't abolish it when he assumed the Presidency.

[No Elephants]

7. Constitutional lecturer Obama did a lot more than simply not abolish the office.

And pretty darn quickly after taking office, too.

For Immediate Release
February 5, 2009


Obama Announces White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Washington (February 5, 2009) – President Barack Obama today signed an executive order establishing the new White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will work on behalf of Americans committed to improving their communities, no matter their religious or political beliefs.

"Over the past few days and weeks, there has been much talk about what our government’s role should be during this period of economic emergency. That is as it should be – because there is much that government can and must do to help people in need," said President Obama. "But no matter how much money we invest or how sensibly we design our policies, the change that Americans are looking for will not come from government alone. There is a force for good greater than government. It is an expression of faith, this yearning to give back, this hungering for a purpose larger than our own, that reveals itself not simply in places of worship, but in senior centers and shelters, schools and hospitals, and any place an American decides."

The White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will be a resource for nonprofits and community organizations, both secular and faith based, looking for ways to make a bigger impact in their communities, learn their obligations under the law, cut through red tape, and make the most of what the federal government has to offer.

More at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ObamaAnnouncesWhiteHouseOfficeofFaith-basedandNeighborhoodPartnerships

See also Remarks of President Barack Obama, National Prayer Breakfast, on the same date.


And Obama: Expand Faith-Based Programs, USA Today article of July 2008 http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-07-01-obama-faith_N.htm

He also issued an Executive Order allowing recipients of FBI funds to discriminate in their employment practices, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-blaze/president-obama-approves-_b_804715.html, which discrimination the SCOTUS very recently agreed with as to church organizations.

Under Obama, almost $140 million of stimulus funds alone went to faith based groups. http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2010/1213_faith_based_rogers.aspx

But, it may be hard to track all funding as faith based entities compete on an equal footing with secular ones for all kinds of federal programs. Id.

Clinton began that, bless his DLC heart. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/januaryweb-only/14-22.0.html

[DeSwiss]

3. ''These are dark days indeed.''

- It's always darkest before the dawn.......


K&R

[ladjf]

4. Of course. The SC is loaded with religionists. nt

[No Elephants]

8. And the rest of government (federal, state and local) is loaded with people who pander.