{"id":39823,"date":"2019-02-20T06:00:44","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T11:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=39823"},"modified":"2019-02-18T18:03:01","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T23:03:01","slug":"religious-liberty-developments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2019\/02\/religious-liberty-developments\/","title":{"rendered":"Religious Liberty Developments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Religious liberty used to be taken for granted in the United States, but today\u2013especially in the aftermath of the sexual revolution\u2013 it has become controversial and a matter for litigation.\u00a0 Here are some of the latest developments.<\/p>\n

Title IX<\/h3>\n

Title IX of the Civil Rights code forbids sex-related discrimination in schools and universities that receive federal money.\u00a0 (This includes colleges that accept money from federally-guaranteed student loans.)\u00a0 The Obama administration interpreted the law to include under \u201csex\u201d things like gender identity.\u00a0 Title IX has been like a sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of Christian institutions that have qualms about transgenderism and policies against homosexuality.\u00a0\u00a0(My old employer, Patrick Henry College, avoided the entanglement by refusing to take federal money.)<\/p>\n

\n

The text of the law<\/a> includes a religious exemption for institutions \u201ccontrolled by a religious organization,\u201d which would seem to refer to schools actually owned by a church\u2013but what about independent Christian schools and colleges?\u00a0 The current regulation from the Department of Education requires institutions wishing to invoke a religious exemption to apply for the privilege.<\/p>\n

But a proposed revision to the policy<\/a> that is being recommended would make clear that, in the words of Family Research Council spokesperson Alexandra McPhee, \u201cWhen Title IX\u2019s terms are not consistent with an institution\u2019s religious tenets, such as those involving\u00a0marriage and related sexuality issues, the institution has the right to implement policies that put its tenets into practice without facing a loss of federal funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campus Groups<\/h3>\n

As we blogged about<\/a>, some universities have been throwing Christian organizations off campus for requiring their leaders to be Christians or in agreement with a Christian statement of faith and morals.\u00a0 Such requirements that leaders must support the organization\u2019s principles are said to constitute \u201cdiscrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n

But a federal court has ruled against the University of Iowa<\/a> in forbidding that practice.\u00a0 The university allows other groups based on race and sex, reasoned the court, and religion is likewise a protected category entitled to the liberty of its convictions.<\/p>\n

Spiritual Care at One\u2019s Execution<\/h3>\n

The Supreme Court turned down an appeal from a condemned criminal, a Muslim, who requested that an Imam be present at his execution.\u00a0<\/a> The policy of the state of Alabama prison system is to allow that privilege only to employees\u2013that is, the prison chaplain, who is a Christian.\u00a0 The court said that the request was too \u201clast minute\u201d and allowed the execution to proceed, not ruling on the religious liberty issue as such.<\/p>\n

The decision has sparked great criticism, along with reminders that religious liberty must apply not only to Christians but to those who hold to other religions as well.\u00a0 The case also suggests that chaplains\u2013religious ministers hired by a government entity\u2013may become a major issue in religious liberty battles.<\/p>\n

May the government hire chaplains, given the \u201cnonestablishment\u201d clause?\u00a0 If it does, must it accommodate every religion, and, if so, how?\u00a0 Must a chaplain work in not only an ecumenical but an interfaith manner?\u00a0 And what rights does the chaplain have for his own confessional integrity?<\/p>\n

Our military chaplains, who for the most part are doing a stellar job, are already facing many challenges, including pressure to perform same-sex marriages and support transgender rights.\u00a0 More litigation on these issues is likely, and the outcomes are not easily predictable, even with \u201cconservative\u201d courts.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illustration by Mr. Gray via Flickr, Public Domain<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Religious liberty used to be taken for granted in the United States, but today\u2013especially in the aftermath of the sexual revolution\u2013 it has become controversial and a matter for litigation.\u00a0 Here are some of the latest developments. Title IX Title IX of the Civil Rights code forbids sex-related discrimination in schools and universities that receive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":39955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nReligious Liberty Developments<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Recent court cases and regulations dealing with religious liberty.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2019\/02\/religious-liberty-developments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Religious Liberty Developments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recent court cases and regulations dealing with religious liberty.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2019\/02\/religious-liberty-developments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cranach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-20T11:00:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-02-18T23:03:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/305\/2019\/02\/30279870283_c9a1155593_k.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"447\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2019\/02\/religious-liberty-developments\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2019\/02\/religious-liberty-developments\/\",\"name\":\"Religious Liberty Developments\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-20T11:00:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-18T23:03:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\"},\"description\":\"Recent court cases and regulations dealing with religious liberty.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2019\/02\/religious-liberty-developments\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2019\/02\/religious-liberty-developments\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2019\/02\/religious-liberty-developments\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Religious Liberty Developments\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\",\"name\":\"Cranach\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\",\"name\":\"Gene Veith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gene Veith\"},\"description\":\"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. 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