FFRF welcomes court’s rejection of taxpayer-funded discrimination
Tags:Freedom From Religion Foundation, Politics, Religion
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is applauding a major federal appeals court ruling affirming that religious schools accepting taxpayer funding must comply with state civil rights laws.
In a pair of decisions issued recently by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the court largely upheld Maine’s requirement that private religious schools participating in the state’s publicly funded tuition assistance program must comply with the Maine Human Rights Act. The court rejected arguments by Saint Dominic Academy and Bangor Christian Schools that they have a First Amendment right to receive public funds while discriminating against students based on sexual orientation, gender identity or religion.
“This is exactly how government funding should work,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “If a religious school wants to discriminate, it is free to do so with private money. But once it chooses to accept taxpayer dollars, it must play by the same rules as every other institution receiving public funds.”
The dispute arose after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Carson v. Makin, which forced Maine to include religious schools in its tuition assistance program. Anticipating that outcome, Maine amended its Human Rights Act to make clear that schools receiving public funding could not discriminate against students on the basis of religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.
The religious schools argued that complying with those requirements would interfere with their religious mission, including admitting LGBTQ+ students and nonreligious students or those from other faiths.
The appeals court rejected those claims, holding that preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is a compelling governmental interest on par with preventing religious discrimination. The court ruled that while religious schools accepting public funds may require students to participate in religious services and abide by the school’s religious mission, they may not deny admission to otherwise qualified students because of their religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Importantly, the court noted that Maine law already contains exemptions allowing religious schools to hire employees who share and adhere to the schools’ religious beliefs, meaning the schools failed to show any present conflict between the law and their employment practices.
“This case illustrates the inevitable problems created when public money flows to religious schools,” says FFRF Legal Director Patrick Elliott. “Religious schools want the benefits of taxpayer funding without the responsibilities that come with it. Taxpayers should never be forced to subsidize discrimination.”
The appeals court did send one narrow issue back to the district court for further consideration involving a Maine regulation governing religious expression at publicly funded religious schools. The appeals court concluded that additional review is warranted regarding whether that particular rule improperly interferes with a school’s religious activities. However, the court left intact the core holding that schools accepting public funds must comply with the state’s nondiscrimination protections.
FFRF warns that the litigation is likely not over. Attorneys representing the schools have already indicated they are considering asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision, and the high court is expected to hear a similar case from Colorado in its upcoming term.
While the case may not be over, FFRF is pleased that this ruling recognizes a fundamental American principle: That taxpayers should not be forced to finance exclusionary religious education.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with about 41,000 members nationwide, including more than 200 members and a chapter in Maine. FFRF’s purposes are to defend the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
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FFRF asks USDA again to stop official promotion of Christianity
Tags:Freedom From Religion Foundation, Politics, Religion
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to quit using official government communications and resources to promote religion, after receiving new complaints from USDA employees documenting an ongoing pattern of unconstitutional messaging.
“USDA employees deserve to work in a professional environment where they are not subjected to official Christian messaging,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “The government has no business using taxpayer-funded communications to promote religion or organize worship. Public employees of every faith and none at all are entitled to a neutral workplace free from divisive religion and that treats everyone as equally valued.”
In a letter sent Friday to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, FFRF details several employee-reported recent incidents, including department-wide emails quoting scripture, official invitations to prayer and worship services, and repeated religious messaging by Agriculture Secretary Rollins.
The state/church watchdog first objected in April to Rollins’ department-wide Easter email proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection as “the greatest story ever told, the foundation of our faith, and the abiding hope of all mankind.”
“Rather than being an isolated incident, subsequent complaints demonstrate an ongoing pattern of official promotion of religion within the department,” writes FFRF Legal Counsel Chris Line. “USDA employees represent every faith tradition and no faith at all. They should not have to wonder whether their department expects participation in religious exercises or whether they are viewed as outsiders because they do not share the religious beliefs repeatedly promoted by agency leadership.”
Among the new complaints, USDA employees reported receiving an official Memorial Day message from Rollins that concluded not with a secular remembrance of those who died in military service, but with a quotation from the Gospel of John promising eternal life: “Yet, we can take comfort that they are safely at rest by trusting in the words of Almighty God: ‘I give unto them eternal life, that they shall never perish.’ — John 10:28.”
FFRF notes that while many Americans may find personal comfort in religion, a Cabinet secretary may not use official government communications to promote her personal theological beliefs to the department’s workforce.
Employees also complained about an official event titled “Faith and Fellowship Musical Celebration and Launch of USDA Prayer Service,” organized by the USDA Center for Faith and promoted through official departmental communications. According to the event materials, the gathering featured worship music, corporate prayer, a message from Rollins and the launch of a recurring quarterly USDA Prayer and Worship Service.
“Federal agencies exist to serve the public, not to organize worship services or encourage employees to participate in prayer,” Line writes. “Government employees remain free to pray privately or gather voluntarily on their own initiative. What the Constitution forbids is the government itself becoming the organizer and promoter of religious worship.”
Employees also reported receiving an official Independence Day message from Rollins ending with the religious blessing: “May God continue to protect the United States of America and may His favor shine over all her land.”
Taken together, FFRF argues, these communications establish “an unmistakable pattern of official governmental religious messaging” that aligns USDA with religious belief and, specifically, Christianity.
The additional complaints come even as several USDA employees have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the department’s religious messaging, further demonstrating the seriousness of the constitutional concerns.
FFRF’s letter reminds Rollins that the First Amendment requires government neutrality toward religion and nonreligion and asks USDA to end official devotional messages, stop including scriptural quotations and religious exhortations in department-wide communications and discontinue sponsoring official prayer and worship services.
“The Constitution protects every employee’s right to practice their religion — or no religion at all,” Line adds. “What it does not permit is for the federal government itself to promote religious belief or favor one faith over others.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 41,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
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“The biggest lie that’s ever been told in America”
Tags:American Atheists, Politics, Religion
Dear Friend, Those are the words Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor of Texas and Chairperson of President Trump’s so-called “Religious Liberty Commission”, used to describe church-state separation. And if the draft report just released by the Religious Liberty Commission — along with its Christian Nationalist wish list of recommendations for policy changes — is any indication,…
The post “The biggest lie that’s ever been told in America” appeared first on American Atheists.
