The Supreme Court Defends Religious Liberty, Sort Of
So far, unpredictability defines the Roberts Court.
There is a case working its way through the court system right now focused on the Department of Education’s religious exemption to Title IX.
A group of LGBTQ students is suing the federal government, arguing that the religious schools they attended discriminated against them. They want to overthrow the religious exemption, which would mean that religious colleges and universities nationwide would not be able to receive federal funds or federally backed student loans.
After the lawsuit was filed, three Christian schools sought to defend the religious exemption that allowed religious schools to maintain their polices regarding sexuality and gender that are in keeping the traditional teachings of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
Then the Biden administration made what appeared to everyone to be a strange move. It intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of the Christian schools. Not only did it intervene, the Department of Justice filing went over the top in its supposed defense of the Christian schools and the religious exemption.
Biden’s DOJ vowed to "vigorously" defend the interests of religious liberty and claimed to seek the same "ultimate objective" as the schools. Needless to say, LGBTQ advocates felt bewildered and betrayed. Had the Biden administration had a sudden change of heart?
It didn’t take long for the DOJ to get back with the program. The Biden administration amended its court filing. It still wants to "defend" the Christian schools, but the word "vigorously" was removed, along with the phrase "ultimate objective."
SUPREME COURT SIDES WITH CATHOLIC FOSTER AGENCY THAT EXCLUDES SAME-SEX COUPLES IN 9-0 RULING
I guess the Biden administration is back to being weak and aimless now? It raises the obvious question: Can we really trust the Biden DOJ to defend religious liberty?
From literally the first day of his presidency, Joe Biden has done everything possible to end so-called "discrimination" by aggressively going after any religious business, school, or university that holds to a traditional view of gender and sexuality.
Biden has also advocated for the passage of the Equality Act, which would make claims of discrimination by LGBTQ advocates override existing federal laws that protect religious believers and organizations.
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Biden’s position is clear: the dictates of the religious conscience dare not remain in any place where federal money goes. His policy agenda is to enforce a radical ideology on thousands of Christian institutions all across America. Biden’s head fake on this religious exemption case was just a sly way to prevent religious freedom from being defended "vigorously."
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Biden’s cynical turn contrasts with a bright spot, the Fulton decision that the Supreme Court just handed down last week. In a unanimous decision, the Court argued that the city of Philadelphia was violating the free exercise of religion by trying to deny Catholic Social Services the right to administer foster care and adoption in accordance with its religious faith. The city of Philadelphia aggressively tried to box out faith-based organizations from doing good works that help thousands of children who need homes. The Supreme Court put a decisive stop to it.
We have a newly emerging form of government in this country. Progressives in the executive branch try to mandate LGBTQ orthodoxy. The Supreme Court tries to slow them down. And Congress does nothing.
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Religious liberty is in the crosshairs of the radical progressive agenda.
We’ll see whether Biden has any interest in following the Constitution and protecting the free exercise of faith-- what some have called our "first freedom"---or whether the Court will have to keep striking down these blatant violations of the First Amendment.