RIGHT TO WORK?

The Importance of Believing in Charity: Religious groups should be allowed to hire staff members who share their most deeply held beliefs and values. (JOSEPH LOCONTE, 7/07/03, NY Times)

President Bush recently called on Congress to make it easier for religious charities that get federal money to hire people based on their religious affiliation. His action is certain to further inflame civil liberties groups, which for two years have assailed his faith-based initiative as a violation of antidiscrimination laws. They may want to rethink their opposition.

Just as religious groups want staff members to share their most deeply held beliefs and values, secular nonprofit organizations want employees who believe fervently in their mission ? everything from environmental protection to abortion rights. In this sense, the hiring policies of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay organization, are no different from those of the evangelical Salvation Army. Some say the receipt of federal money changes the rules of the game. But if that's true, then Planned Parenthood--which got $240 million last year in government funds--could be forced to staff its clinics with pro-life Catholics. [...]

True, there's a danger that some organizations will use their religious exemption as an excuse to fire people they simply don't like. Some will turn away otherwise qualified applicants because of differences over sexual orientation. But these concerns don't trump the freedom of all religious groups to live out their moral vision in a pluralistic society. Indeed, Americans of faith are likely to punish lawmakers who attack their religious institutions. That fact alone might, in the end, inspire a little more charity toward the nation's Good Samaritans.

When I worked for the environmental communists, I was denied a promotion because I wouldn't renounce the Contras. What's the big deal? Ideological organizations have a right to expect employees share the ideology, no? Posted by Orrin Judd at July 17, 2003 12:59 PM