Challenges to Religious Freedom in the Future

Thanks to First Things, there is a great interview between Mark Bauerlein (senior editor at First Things magazine) with Mark Movsesian, who is a legal expert specializing in religious freedom. In the interview, Movsesian addresses what will be the likely challenges to religious freedom in the US in the foreseeable future.

In Australia, in the State of Victoria, the Government has proposed legislation that would remove the exemptions enjoyed by religious charities, schools, and even places of worship. According to The Age the proposed legislation introduced into State Parliament this week reinstates an “inherent requirement” test that would weaken the powers of Victorian religious bodies and schools to turn away employees because of their sexuality, sex, gender identity, religious beliefs or marital status.

In other words, churches and mosques, faith-based schools and charities, will no longer be able to insist on religious criteria in employing persons, in the least, they will have to justify to the state why any position requires a person to be a practitioner of their faith. My good friend, Ps Murray Campbell, blogs on this

Two months ago I sat in a packed room where Mr Tim Wilson MP and Rev Dr Michael Bird addressed the topic, ‘Freedom of Speech in Australia today’. During the conversation Mike Bird said that the next issue facing Victorians will be in relation to religious schools and discrimination policies. This week, my non-prophetic friend was proven to be right: this week, the Victorian Government announced it will reintroduce the ‘inherent requirement’ test, impacting whom religious organisations may and may not employ …

During that cold July night when Michael Bird pre-empted Mr Andrews’ announcement this week, Tim Wilson offered an idea which deserves consideration as the Victorian Parliament wrestles with this legislation. Mr Wilson believes that the question of whom religious organisations employ is better dealt with through contracts rather than through law. He said, “In terms of hiring and firing people, I don’t think it’s best dealt with through law. I fully accept that religious institutions have a right to preserve the environment and the value systems of people who embody those value systems in whom they employ” [and] “It is the right of children and parents, to raise their children in the culture, traditions and customs to which they hold dear.”

So, as you can imagine, this is a big issue, not just in California, but in Australia too. So I listened to Movsesian’s talk with great interest!