CLS Urges the President to Preserve All Religious Groups' Right to Be Religious 

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Yesterday Christian Legal Society joined a letter to President Obama that encouraged him to continue the federal government's long-standing policy of allowing religious groups to participate in federal grant programs without forfeiting their ability to hire staff who agree with the groups' religious beliefs.  CLS assisted in crafting this significant religious liberty statement.

Federal programs often distribute funds through private secular and religious organizations to assist persons who are underprivileged, addicted, abused, or ill.  Yet several activist groups have pressured the Obama Administration to force religious groups to choose between their faith-based hiring needs and participation in federal programs to help the underprivileged.  On June 21, these opposing groups sent yet another letter to the President asking him to deny participation to religious groups with faith-based hiring practices.  

In a strong response, yesterday's letter -- signed by dozens of religious groups from across the faith and political spectrum -- urges the President to resist such a detrimental change.  The letter respectfully reminds the President that religious liberty is itself a vital civil right and that faith-based hiring by religious groups has always been safeguarded in federal law and policy.  Specifically, the letter assures the President that protecting faith-based hiring "upholds fundamental civil rights principles by eschewing the discrimination against religious organizations that would result if religious groups were denied eligibility to compete for federal contracts because they maintain their religious identity in their staffing decisions."  The complete letter is here.