Faith-Based Hiring In Jeopardy

From OneNewsNow and Vision to America:

Faith-based hiring in jeopardy


Russ Jones - OneNewsNow - 9/23/2010 4:15:00 AMCongress is tampering with freedom of religion in pending legislation that would deny religious charities that receive federal grants their fundamental right to hire people who share their faith.





H.R. 5466, sponsored by Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-Rhode Island), targets faith groups that work in the mental health and substance abuse field. Under that legislation, groups like Teen Challenge and World Vision, which receive funding from the federal government, would be prohibited from hiring employees on the basis of religious beliefs and would be forced to hire atheists and other non-believing individuals.



Craig Parshall of the National Religious Broadcasters calls the bill a "travesty."



"I really think that's a bitter irony that organizations that specialize in lifting up people would be downtrodden by the federal government," he laments.



Parshall believes this measure is the beginning of a mounting assault against Christian organizations.



"I wonder perhaps whether Bill 5466, which only has two close sponsors right now in the House of Representatives, is a knee-jerk reaction in part to the very poorly reasoned Supreme Court decision in Christian Legal Society vs. Martinez, a case that I think unfortunately signals the fact that Christian organizations can continue to be treated differently as lesser subjects of this constitutional republic [and] be discriminated against officially by any branch of the government, whether it's local, regional, state or federal," he inquires.



In 2007 the U.S. Department of Justice concluded prohibitions of this type impose against religious organizations and would unjustly burden the religious freedom of faith-based groups.