Trump Administration Moves to Protect Federal Employees’ Religious Liberties

Religious Freedom,

Last week the United States Office of Personnel Management released a memo safeguarding religious freedom and religious expression in the workplace.

The free exercise of religion is a fundamental right protected by the U.S. Constitution. However, over the past 15 years the freedom of religion has come under fire — especially within the U.S. military and the federal government.

In 2013, Family Research Council compiled examples of attacks against religious liberty in the military. In 2014, news broke about the federal government making Veterans Affairs hospital chapels “religiously neutral.” And in 2015 a Navy chaplain was relieved of his duties for holding biblical views on homosexuality.

The new memo from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management helps address these types of situations.

The memo reaffirms the federal government’s commitment to religious liberty in federal workplaces.

It clarifies that government employees can display and use religious items at work — including Bibles or artwork — and it says federal workers are free to talk about and share their faith at work.

The memo also provides examples of protected religious expression, such as:

  • A group of employees may form a prayer group and gather for prayer or study of scripture or holy books at the office while not on duty hours.
  • An employee who requests his supervisor prohibit his coworkers from gathering in an empty conference room for prayer should politely be told his coworkers’ conduct will be allowed to continue as it is permissible.
  • A doctor at a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital may pray over his patient for her recovery.

We have often said that if you don’t believe religious liberty is under attack, just try exercising it sometime.

Fortunately, lawmakers in Arkansas have enacted some of the best protections for religious freedom in the nation, and courts have issued rulings that uphold the free exercise of religion.

It’s good to see federal policymakers stand up for religious liberty as well.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Arkansas A.G. Pushes Back Against Lawsuit Over Ten Commandments Monument

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Above: Former Sen. Jason Rapert and then-Rep. Kim Hammer unveil Arkansas’ monument commemorating the Ten Commandments in this file photo from 2018. Atheist organizations filed a lawsuit to have the monument removed, but the case has remained in limbo for seven years.

Attorney General Tim Griffin’s legal team continues to stand up for Arkansas’ monument of the Ten Commandments in court.

In 2015, the Arkansas Legislature authorized a privately funded monument of the Ten Commandments on the Arkansas Capitol Building grounds. The monument is identical to one the U.S. Supreme Court ruled constitutional at the capitol building in Texas.

It was unveiled in 2018, but atheist groups like the Freedom From Religion Foundation and the Satanic Temple quickly filed a federal lawsuit to have the monument removed. The case has been in legal limbo ever since.

Earlier this month the groups suing the state filed a notice alleging that federal court rulings over Ten Commandments displays in Louisiana support their case against Arkansas’ monument.

However, Attorney General Tim Griffin’s team fired back in court, pointing out the lawsuit in Louisiana is different from the situation in Arkansas and defending the Ten Commandments’ longstanding history and tradition in our country.

As we have said many times, historians have long recognized the Ten Commandments as one of the earliest examples of the rule of law in human history, and they have helped shape philosophy and laws in countries around the world.

That’s why the Ten Commandments traditionally have appeared in artwork at courthouses and similar locations.

Arkansas’ Ten Commandments monument commemorates their cultural and historical legacy. With that in mind, we believe our federal courts eventually will resolve this lawsuit and uphold Arkansas’ Ten Commandments monument as constitutional.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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IRS Finally Agrees Churches, Pastors Can Engage in Political Speech

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On Monday the IRS filed a motion in federal court acknowledging that churches and ministers are free to address social and political issues from a biblical point of view.

The motion helps bring clarity to the First Amendment freedoms of pastors and churches.

Many people believe state and federal law prevents churches and pastors from addressing “politics,” but churches and ministers actually have always had tremendous leeway to talk about legislation, campaign issues, and even candidates.

Churches and ministers are free to address social and moral issues — even if some people consider those issues “political.”

That means they are free to stand up against abortion, promote biblical marriage, encourage responsible citizenship, support laws that protect children from sex-change procedures, and so forth. Churches can spend an insubstantial amount of money lobbying for or against legislation or ballot issues as well.

Historically, churches have hosted voter registration drives. They have been free to hold candidate forums and educate voters about candidates and elections.

Legal experts generally have agreed the IRS rules — also known as the Johnson Amendment — let ministers support or oppose candidates.

However, on Monday the IRS filed a court motion reinforcing that churches have tremendous leeway when it comes to free speech and religious liberty. The motion says,

When a house of worship in good faith speaks to its congregation, through its customary channels of communication on matters of faith in connection with religious services, concerning electoral politics viewed through the lens of religious faith, it neither “participate[s]” nor “intervene[s]” in a “political campaign,” within the ordinary meaning of those words. . . . Bona fide communications internal to a house of worship, between the house of worship and its congregation, in connection with religious services, do neither of those things, any more than does a family discussion concerning candidates. Thus, communications from a house of worship to its congregation in connection with religious services through its usual channels of communication on matters of faith do not run afoul of the Johnson Amendment as properly interpreted.

The IRS says this is in keeping with its traditional interpretation of federal tax rules governing churches.

Our friends at Liberty Counsel say this means that “if a house of worship endorsed a candidate to its congregants, the agency would view that not as campaigning but as a private matter, like ‘a family discussion concerning candidates.'”

All of this underscores that churches and ministers have tremendous freedom when it comes to talking about morality, social issues, candidates, and political campaigns.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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