somehow left religion behind and are now engaged in secular activities
Mark Segal
How Christian Institutions Can Stay Christian Amid Secular Pressure
Supreme Court decision that exempted the home-goods chain from providing certain forms of contraception to employees. The Court ruled that closely held for-profit companies whose owners have religious objections are protected under the First Amendment. But the 5–4 ruling left many in confused outrage: How can a for-profit company invoke a Christian identity? Shouldn’t a business operating in the secular sphere have to play by secular rules?
For Stephen Monsma and Stanley Carlson-Thies—two scholars with long experience tracking tensions around institutional religious freedom—such protests rely on cramped notions of what counts as “religious.” Their new book, Free to Serve: Protecting the Religious Freedom of Faith-Based Organizations (Brazos), assesses the dangers an uncomprehending secularism poses to religious businesses, colleges, social service agencies, and student groups. CT associate editor Matt Reynolds spoke with Monsma and Carlson-Thies (fellows with the Center for Public Justice) about the religious-liberty challenges facing faith-based organizations.
What is the basic problem your book addresses?
Monsma: The book grew out of our deep concern over challenges to faith-based organizations seeking to follow the religious commitments at the heart of who they are and what they do. You see this on many fronts. These challenges aren’t random; they reflect prevalent assumptions in our society. Until these assumptions are shown to be false, we’re afraid the religious freedom of faith-based organizations will remain under threat.
Carlson-Thies: We looked at a number of areas. Some issues are matters of internal operations: Can a faith-based organization hold employees to religious standards? Do their health plans have to include coverage for contraception or abortifacients?
Other questions concern how they serve the public, and whether they have to abide by secular protocols: Can religious adoption agencies receiving public money refuse to place children with same-sex couples? Can Catholic agencies serving refugees under a government grant refuse to refer clients to abortion providers? These are just some of the controversies we consider.
What are some of the broader assumptions that place the religious freedom of organizations on shakier footing?
Monsma: One very basic assumption is that when faith-based organizations provide public services—addiction treatment, college education, or overseas relief and development—they have somehow left religion behind and are now engaged in secular activities. If this is true, you can regulate these organizations without really violating their religious freedom. Religion, under this assumption, is something that takes place within churches, synagogues, and mosques, not when religious people form organizations to live out their faith in public.
Carlson-Thies: Jesus said there are two great commandments. One is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. We fulfill this in worship and in prayer. The other is to love your neighbor as yourself. That happens when we serve the needy. Our culture tends to see worshiping God as realreligion; service, although it’s something religious people do, is not shaped by religious convictions. If that’s the case, then World Vision, Teen Challenge, and the church’s soup kitchen are just engaged in humanitarian work. And if so, there’s no problem requiring that it be done the way a secular organization would. This mindset paves the way for regulations and court decisions that forget the faith-shaped way these activities are carried out.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/october/christian-institutions-can-stay-christian-outside-pressure-.html