Religious Freedom Day 2021
"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one
generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance. It
must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation..."
Ronald Reagan, Gubernatorial Inaugural Address, 1967
Religious Freedom Wins of 2020
As today is National Religious Freedom Day, we thought it would be a
good idea to look back at some recent wins for religious freedom in
the United States. National Religious Freedom Day is an annual
observance that serves as a reminder of how important religious
freedom is.
Last year, and even the beginning of 2021, have highlighted, without a
doubt, how fragile our freedoms are. If you have been actively
engaged, you know first-hand how Ronald Reagan's words could not be
truer. Every year, people across our nation must fight the progressive
agenda to protect our religious freedoms.
2020 was no different - but it yielded many hard-fought
victories from our Supreme Court.
Here are some of the highlights.
In Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, the Supreme Court
protected the right of private faith-based schools to receive public
benefits. Espinoza struck down anti-religious Blaine Amendments that
forbid tax-credits from going to private religious schools. The Court
wrote religious organizations cannot be treated as second class
citizens by being denied rights that apply equally to other groups. If
a public benefit is widely shared, religious institutions cannot be
prohibited from benefiting just because of their faith. As we continue
to fight for school choice, Espinoza will ensure states cannot enact
rules that discriminate against religious schools.
In Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morissey-Berru, the Court protected
the right of private faith-based schools to make decisions regarding
teacher employment, without government interference. Our Lady held the
"ministerial exception," (a legal principle that bars
employees from suing religious employers regarding most employment
decisions) also applied to teaching positions in private faith-based
schools. The government must stay out of employment disputes of
important positions in churches and religious institutions to preserve
their religious freedoms. Justice Alito wrote that the First Amendment
protects the right of religious institutions "to decide for
themselves, free from state interference, matters of church government
as well as those of faith and doctrine."
Little Sisters of the Poor Sts. Peter & Paul Home v. Pennsylvania
upheld the right of religious employers (like the nuns of Little
Sisters) to object to the contraceptive mandate under the Affordable
Care Act. This ruling ensures faith-based business owners aren't
forced to provide contraceptive coverage if it violates their
religious beliefs. This victory was a direct result of the Department
of Health, under the Trump Administration, explicitly passing rules to
make sure religious employers maintained their religious freedom under
the burdensome Affordable Care Act mandates.
Finally, Tanzin v. Tanvir made it clear religious discrimination by
government officials would not be tolerated. If an individual can
prove a government official discriminated (such as a federal agent
placing a Muslim on the No-Fly list because they refuse to be an
informant against their religious community) that individual can seek
monetary damages from the government official that they might have to
pay out of their personal bank account. This decision was only
possible because of our legislatures passing religious freedom
restoration acts (RFRA), which was the law the Supreme Court used to
protect injured parties in this case. This Supreme Court decision
should be a powerful deterrent for religious discrimination and make
sure government officials think twice before they target an American
because of their faith.
The battle to preserve our religious freedom for the next generation
is being fought on a daily basis by organizations like Family Policy
Alliance® who believe our constitutional freedoms are the bedrock
of free society.
Though we have experienced great wins, we know a Biden Administration
will work hard to roll-back some of these hard-fought freedoms. In
addition to following our emails, please take a moment to check out
our new prayer initiative, Under God, One Nation, where you can
sign up to seek the Lord's intervention on behalf of our nation,
along with hundreds of others.
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We can keep our freedoms from going extinct and preserving them for
the next generation by first starting on our knees and imploring the
One who granted our freedoms from the beginning.
Sign up today! Thank you for joining the fight!
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Sincerely,
Stephanie Curry
Policy Manager
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Mailing Address:
8675 Explorer Drive, Suite 112
Colorado Springs, CO 80920
(866) 655-4545
FamilyPolicyAlliance.com
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