State V. Church At High Court

IBD Editorials ^ | October 7, 2011 | Editor

[Kaslin]

First Amendment: The administration seeks new power over hiring and firing at religious institutions. This is more than just a culture-war skirmish. It's a threat to liberty.

Americans constantly hear warnings about the threats posed by the religious right to the separation of church and state. Like prayers at high school football games, these usually turn out to be trivial or symbolic, and no threat at all.

Much less is said about encroachments from the political left. These are more dangerous, both to religious institutions and to civil society in general. When government can make the rules for communities of faith, there's little else that stands in its way.

One such threat comes from an Obama administration that is trying to limit the hiring and firing powers of religious institutions.

It has taken up the cause of a teacher, Cheryl Perich, who was fired by a church-run Lutheran school in Michigan after filing a suit under federal disability law. She'd been refused her old job after an extended disability leave; the school argues it fired her because she refused its offer to deal with the matter internally.

What makes this case different from a garden-variety discrimination case is that Perich was, in the eyes of the church that "called" her to her full-time teaching post in 2000, a minister. She taught religious as well as secular content and led prayers.

In that role, she fell under the "ministerial exception" — the idea that the government should not meddle in the employment of clergy and others who carry out an institution's religious mission.

[StonyBurk]

this evil Administration seeks more power over religion.
If the Court does not uphold the lower Court — If Kagan does NOT recuse herself.Then there is NO justice and the United States of America has died by suicide.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I agree wit the conclusion of this editorial. It won't be enough for the USCC5 to knock this down flat. The Obama administration will wage protracted lawfare against churches and church-related institutions via every department of the Executive Branch and every one of the 10,000 regulations of the Federal code.

After we get rid of Obama we're going to have to prune a lot of govt. agencies down the the roots.

[NoGrayZone]

I have learned so much here on FR it's amazing. For one, I learned Hitler took over the churches and replaced everything holy w/ the Swazi and his own picture.

If we do not learn from history, how the heck do we expect NOT to repeat it? I'm not sure if what I have stated has anything to do with this, but that thread popped into my mind as I was reading yours.

[updatedscreenname]

“prune a lot of govt. agencies down the the roots”
some need the roots pulled up and burned with fire

[verklaring]

“...who was fired by a church-run Lutheran school in Michigan after filing a suit under federal disability law. She’d been refused her old job after an extended disability leave; the school argues it fired her because she refused its offer to deal with the matter internally. “

Just for information:

“filing suit” instead of “internally” dealing with the matter is a violation of I Cor. 6:1-8.