The Trump administration recently announced another great policy:
Religious organizations that partner with the government should receive the broadest religious freedom protections permitted by law.
But this new proposal is not final yet.
Like many processes in our federal bureaucracy, the implementation of such a rule requires a formal period where the public is invited to submit their comments on the proposal. The proposed rule is open for public comment — but only for a few more days.
SUBMIT your comment to the Department of Labor in support of the proposed rule change here >>>
As you can imagine, there are plenty of proposed rule changes for our federal government. Most of them receive very few comments.
But this proposal is different. The ACLU and the Human Rights Campaign (pro-LGBT group) have come out against this proposed religious freedom protection.
The gay lobby is mobilizing their activists to register their opposition to this rule change. There are over 23,000 public comments.
Can you take 3 minutes to help us show that Americans support this new religious freedom protection?
Here’s a brief history to help understand why this proposed rule is on solid ground:
- Right from the start, the 1964 Civil Rights Act provided an accommodation for religious employers: “This title shall not apply . . . to a religious corporation, association, or society with respect to the employment of individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with the carrying on by such corporation, association, or society of its religious activities. . . .”
- In 1972, Congress expanded the protections by providing a broad definition of “religion.” The Equal Employment Opportunity Act stated: “The term `religion’ includes all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to reasonably accommodate to an employee’s or prospective employee’s religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business.”
- In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson issued Executive Order 11246, requiring equal employment opportunity in federal government contracting. Two years later, President Johnson expanded that in Executive Order 11375 to prohibit discrimination against workers on the basis of sex and religion – while expressly acknowledging Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which contains the religious accommodation.
- This proposed rule change simply provides clarity that the religious exemption in President Johnson’s Executive Order 11246 covers not just churches but also employers that are organized for a religious purpose – like a religious ministry or school.
- Recent Supreme Court cases have bolstered the protections of religious organizations. Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC (2012) affirmed a religious school’s freedom to hire and fire employees consistent with their church’s teachings. In 2017, the Supreme Court ruled in Trinity Lutheran v. Comer, that a generally available public benefit cannot be conditioned on the entity giving up its religious character.
Acting Secretary of Labor Patrick Pizzella said: “As people of faith with deeply held religious beliefs are making decisions on whether to participate in federal contracting, they deserve clear understanding of their obligations and protections under the law.”
We agree 100%.
There are several instances where the federal government recognizes that the best organization to partner with is a religious ministry.
But left-wing activists want to seize on that partnership – through federal lawsuits – to force religious organizations to denounce their own teachings.
And these left-wing extremists don’t care if their lawsuits would hurt the victims of sex trafficking.
The Department of Labor is putting forward a proposed rule to ensure strong legal protections for religious organizations.
Quite simply: The Trump administration did its part.
Now it’s time to do ours.
Please post a public comment now in SUPPORT of the proposed rule change for religious employers.