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eNews for Faith-Based Organizations
August 21, 2009
Editor: Stanley Carlson-Thies
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Access Past Issues of the E-News
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An archive of current and past eNews for FBOs can be accessed HERE.
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Free to Maintain Faith-Based Standards?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oddly enough, Belmont Abbey College, a Catholic institution, wants the health care benefits it offers to its employees to fit with a Catholic definition of what are genuine benefits. That means no coverage of contraceptives. As an Inside Higher Ed article documents, the College has ended up in trouble with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which claims its policy is discriminatory, denying a benefit to women only.
And the College is in trouble with the state of North Carolina, which mandates, as do about half the states, that health care policies that cover prescription drugs must also cover contraceptives.
The state does provide an exemption for religious organizations--but Belmont Abbey College doesn't fit the definition. To qualify, it would have to, among other things, operate for religious purposes and have as one of its primary purposes inculcating religious values. But these are not good ways to describe a religious institution of higher education--not because it isn't actually a religious organization, but because it is a college or university, not a seminary or a church. Its purpose is faith-based or faith-guided education, not religious indoctrination or training.
Time for a more accurate definition of religious organization for North Carolina's (and many other states') religious exemption. And time for the EEOC to reconsider what illegal, invidious discrimination actually is.
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Media Coverage of the Obama and Bush Faith-Based Initiatives
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last week's report from the Pew Forum, "The Starting Line," documents the very different media coverage received by the Obama faith-based initiative compared to the Bush initiative. The report underscores the fact that President Obama's initiative "has so far generated little of the contentious press coverage associated with Bush's effort." Several reasons are proposed, including that this time the initiative is a better known quantity and that many very large issues have preoccupied the administration, the public, and the press in these early months of the Obama presidency.
Two factors get insufficient attention. The less respectable one is this: many in the media despised President Bush while many now strongly approve of President Obama. The other--intriguing and important--reason is this: with the distrusted Bush out of the way, the same church-state standards, federal apparatus, and basic goals now apparently seem to be just not all that contentious to many people, even if they don't approve of every detail. That's good for the initiative which, after all, seeks only a genuinely level playing field, and federal policies and practices that engage the wide range of social groups that reach out and serve their neighbors.
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Texas Faith-based Legislation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At the end of May, Texas enacted its own faith-based legislation. H.B. 492 requires various state agencies to designate faith/community liaisons whose responsibility is not only to conduct outreach to faith-based and community-based organizations but also inreach to their respective agencies, helping them to identify and remove barriers that hobble fruitful partnerships with community organizations. Those liaisons will collaborate in an interagency coordinating group to remove interagency barriers to partnerships. The law also creates a Renewing Our Communities account to fund technical assistance and to encourage local governments to establish their own faith-based offices, and also a task force of government, nonprofit, academic, and foundation representatives to recommend how the capacity of community groups to serve can best be strengthened. |
Restricted Associational Freedom at State Universities
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Alliance Defense Fund has just sued the University of Wisconsin system on behalf of a student group excluded from student fee support because of its point of view. This is just the latest in a long series of lawsuits against this public university system which, like too many others, seems unaware that students don't lose their freedom of association, religion, or speech merely by enrolling, and that it is a violation of those freedoms for the university to favor some student groups over others. This time it is a student group discriminated against because of its political viewpoint. Other suits against the same system have involved a Roman Catholic student group and a chapter of the InterVarsity Student Fellowship.
For more on the rights of students and student clubs at public universities, check the ADF Center for Academic Freedom and FIRE: the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
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A Bright Spot in Grim Economic Times
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Amid the continuing grim economic news, the GivingUSA report on charitable giving in 2008 contains a bright spot--along with a dark cloud.
The dark cloud is the report's confirmation of the difficulties being experienced by many human services organizations: increased needs and decreased donations.
The bright spot is the news that, despite the stress on donors, giving to "religious congregations and other religious organizations" was up 5.5% (1.6 percent, adjusted for inflation)--to a total of $107 billion, 35% of charitable giving. Given the important social services that most religious organizations provide for their neighbors, along with the help they give to their own members, this is very positive news.
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Resources
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On the Belmont Abbey College case: Patrick Reilly, "Look Who's Discriminating Now," Wall Street Journal, August 13.
Overview of membership, task forces, and priorities: Pew Forum, "President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships," August 18.
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For further information:
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e-mail: info@IRFAlliance.org
website (under construction): www.IRFAlliance.org
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What is IRFA?
The Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance works to safeguard the religious identity, faith-based standards and practices, and faith-shaped services of faith-based organizations across the range of service sectors and religions, enabling them to make their distinctive and best contributions to the common good.
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