Dear Friend,

Here we are, just one day away from Christmas Eve—but it’s not all tinsel and holly. Every year, Becket gives the Ebenezer Award to the most outrageous offender of the Hanukkah and Christmas season. Though I long for all the Ebenezer Scrooges to be redeemed, that day has not yet come! This year, the biggest offender hasn’t obliterated Christmas imagery from the public square or put the kibosh on a menorah lighting. No, this year’s Ebenezer Award goes to the City Council of Brookings, Oregon, for truly embodying Scrooge’s “tight-fisted hand at the grindstone,” the Scrooge who famously spurned charitable giving in favor of sending the poor to jails and workhouses.

Late this fall, the council passed an ordinance to restrict churches from feeding the poor and homeless more than two meals a week. Two meals a week! After nearly two years of increased isolation, pandemic lockdowns, and unemployment, homelessness is surging, including in Brookings. To add insult to injury, the city itself does not even provide services to the homeless, which means it is up to churches and other organizations to serve those most in need. Luckily, the pastor of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church is refusing to abandon the people who have come to rely on the church’s four-days-a-week food ministry. Like hundreds of churches across the country, St. Timothy’s will continue to live out its Christian mission and obligation to feed the hungry. As for the City Council, I can only hope that they, like Ebenezer Scrooge, ultimately see the error of their ways.

We have had a busy year at Becket, with much to be grateful for (see all the below!), and I am personally looking forward to some much-needed time to reconnect with family and loved ones. I hope you have plans to do the same. Merry Christmas!

P.S. Scrooge is outnumbered by far more Bob Cratchits, Fezziwigs, and Tiny Tims. It wouldn’t be Christmas without an Eggnog Toast—this year’s goes to Michigan State University for allowing menorah lightings in its residence halls during Hanukkah for the first time!

What’s happening at Becket:

A major victory for religious autonomy in faith-based education. Earlier this month the Ninth Circuit issued a unanimous ruling in Becket’s case defending a prominent seminary’s right to set faith-based community standards for its students. The victory will bolster protections for communities of all faiths—including the Muslim, Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant communities that filed briefs in support—so that they can pursue their missions without compromising their faith. 

No inoculation, no education. Becket filed an emergency petition in partnership with lawyers from Limandri Jonna and Thomas More Society to the Supreme Court on behalf of a student in the San Diego Unified School District who was denied a religious exemption to the district’s vaccine mandate. SDUSD’s mandate is an outlier in the country—unlike 99% of the country’s public school districts, it doesn’t include a religious exemption from the mandate despite exempting 85% of the students in the district for secular reasons and providing religious exemptions to staff.

Defending the right to “do no harm”. Earlier this month, Becket senior counsel Luke Goodrich argued before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in a case defending several Catholic hospitals, a Catholic university, and the Religious Sisters of Mercy against the harmful Transgender Mandate. The controversial mandate seeks to force medical professionals to perform gender transition surgeries—even on children—against their medical judgement and consciences. Two federal courts have already struck the mandate down, but Becket is seeking permanent relief for religious objectors. Fox News has the story.

Becket in the news:

“Apathy toward religious freedom for those with whom we disagree is self-defeating.” Luke Goodrich teamed up with Becket board member, Russell Moore, to urge Christians to pay attention to a religious liberty case seeking to protect a Native American sacred site, Oak Flat. The piece, published in Christianity Today, demonstrates that free exercise for Christians is reliant on robust protection for members of minority faith communities. This is one of many reasons that we fight for religious liberty for all.

“I invite those who think this was a Supreme Court term in which nothing much happened to take another look.” This has been a blockbuster year for Becket for so many reasons, but chief among them is our unanimous Supreme Court victory in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. This summer, Linda Greenhouse argued in the New York Times that, in ruling for our clients in the Fulton case, the Supreme Court changed the landscape for religious liberty for the better. We agree.

“If the government excludes religious groups because they use the funds in a religious manner due to their religious beliefs, that is no better than excluding them because they hold those beliefs.” Earlier this month, SCOTUS heard a case with major implications for both school choice and religious freedom. In Carson v. Makin, the Court will decide whether Maine can withhold a tuition benefit from students who would use it to attend religious schools. Becket filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, and our very own Diana Thomson was quoted in Christianity Today.

What we’re reading (and watching):

"[T]o pack the Court is to destroy the Court...” Ed Whelan gives his take on the Supreme Court Commission here—hint: the Commission came out with no endorsement for court packing. For a deeper dive into the purpose of the Commission, watch my discussion with Adam White, who served as a commissioner.

“If the situation in Maine sounds unfair and discriminatory, that’s because it is.” Ashley McGuire writes that the Supreme Court has the opportunity to right a wrong in Maine in Carson v. Makin, where the State has denied tuition assistance to students attending schools that teach religion while allowing it for other private schools.

Are Americans becoming less religious? Pew data says so, but Becket’s Religious Freedom Index shows there’s more to the story. A recent Pew study shows that “about three-in-ten U.S. adults are now religiously unaffiliated,” an increase from years past. But despite this apparent dive in religiosity, findings from Becket’s 2021 Religious Freedom Index indicate that Americans are broadly appreciative of people of faith and their contributions to society, and people of faith reported higher levels of feeling accepted in society than in the last two years. The American religious landscape is changing, but that doesn’t necessarily spell doom for religious individuals.

Dignitatis Humanae turns 56. I spoke with Matthew Bunson, EWTN News’ Executive Editor, about the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Religious Freedom. Dignitatis Humanae was in part a response to the fact that, after terrible atrocities in the first half of the 20^th century, “the threats remained to human dignity.” This landmark Church teaching is the foundation for Becket’s understanding of religious freedom today.