CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY NEWS RELEASE
September 5, 2007 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT COLLEEN HOLMES, MEDIA RELATIONS:  (703) 642-1070 x 3506

Christian Legal Society Opposes Passage of
Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007 as
Inadequate to Protect Religious Liberty

Proposed Bill Would Force Religious Employers to
Violate Deeply Held Beliefs

Springfield, Va. — The Center for Law & Religious Freedom of the Christian Legal Society and Professor Thomas Berg of the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minn. submitted testimony today to the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions opposing the passage of H.R. 2015, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007 (“ENDA” or “the bill”), because it poses a real threat to the fundamental right of faith-based employers to freely exercise their deeply held religious beliefs.

ENDA would amend existing federal employment non-discrimination law to prohibit discrimination based on “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”  Previous versions of the bill have included exemptions for religious organizations whose tenets teach that homosexual conduct is immoral.  The present version of the bill significantly narrows these exemptions and may be read to eliminate exemptions for religious organizations whose primary purposes include anything other than religious teaching, governance, ritual or worship. 

“Laws that prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation must be accompanied by meaningful exemptions to protect employers, especially religious organizations, whose religious conscience and tenets teach that homosexual conduct is immoral,” said Professor Berg and CLS Senior Counsel Steven H. Aden.   The Center’s testimony cautions that far from promoting the diversity and tolerance its proponents claim, the effect of narrowing the bill’s exemptions will be to pressure and marginalize religious employers, to invite excessive government entanglement in religious matters and to hamstring religious organizations that provide essential social services, such as faith-based homeless shelters, adoption agencies, and other ministries..   

The Center’s testimony is available at http://www.clsnet.org/clrfPages/advocacy/clsHR21015Testimony.pdf

The Center for Law and Religious Freedom works to protect religious belief and practice for all Americans, and to protect religions and religious organizations’ autonomy from the government.

###