JuridicsUSA: Faith-based hiring: Dr Stanley Carson-Thies keeps lame duck watch on 5-more-days Congress

Watchman for institutional religious freedom alliance [irfa], Stanley Carlson-Thies, keeps a focus day by day on the shenanigans in the usa Congress where some lame-ducks seek to deprive faithful citizens of the right to hire faith-morals compatible-employees to serve the clientele of all faiths who use a communal organization's services.  irfa email newsletter [Dec14,2k10] -- 

So far, so good.  Opponents of religious hiring have been trying to get the Democratic-majority Congress to ban the hiring freedom when faith-based groups get federal funds, and to eliminate their right to appeal to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) for relief from such a ban.  But the Continuing Resolution (CR) the House passed last week did not include the bad language.  And, so far, there's been no hint that a Senator is trying to sneak the language into whatever budget bill the Senate passes.  The House and Senate have to pass some kind of budget measure by Dec. 18th or else the federal government will grind to a halt.  Congress is in this fix because it failed to adopt budget bills for federal operations before the current fiscal year began last October 1.  Short-term CRs have been adopted as stop-gap measures.  Continuing Resolutions basically maintain the status quo without making major changes in spending priorities or amounts.  The question now is whether the House and Senate will pass another short-term CR, or a long-term CR, or even an "omnibus" budget bill that mashes all twelve of the languishing budget bills into one monster bill.  And also:  whether the bill that finally is adopted includes the attack on religious hiring and RFRA. Of course, given the press of time, the predilection of this Congress to pass huge bills without time for anyone to master the contents, and the willingness of members to conceal explosive provisions if they can, vigilance must not be relaxed. Go here for the story on the bad language as it first appeared in Rep. Patrick Kennedy's SAMHSA modernization bill.  Go here for a story on the opponents' plan to put the language into a Continuing Resolution.  Go here for a story on the letter from faith-based organizations asking Congress not to undermine the religious hiring freedom.

-------------------------------
Thank you, Stan, for keeping us alert during these fateful 4 days before Congress closes down its last-gasp session, in all the ignominy it so richly deserves.  pelosi and rangel in the house.  reid in the Senate.


-- lawt

PoliticsUSA: Civil R+ts: Religious r+ts of institutions other than secularist organizations, agencies, institions

An important heads-up arrived in m+ email today and sent me to the Faith and Organizations webs+te, which I had never encountered before.   A memorandum from the Faith and Organizations Project summarizes the wide range of differences among faith-based organizations (FBOs) that work with government, and somet+mz receive funds that woud be uncontested were said FBOs pronouncedly faithless and secularistic.

Policy Statement

Thinking about Partnerships among Faith Communities, Faith-Based Organizations and Government in a New Way: Observations from the Faith and Organizations Project

Religious communities and faith-based organizations play vital roles in the United States in education, health care, senior services, community development, and the provision of a wide range of social services. This prominent role long preceded the 1996 welfare reform law and the federal faith-based initiatives that have brought special attention to government partnerships with religious service organizations. Today, many faith-based organizations (FBOs) -- from nationally prominent groups like the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, and Jewish Vocational Services to lesser known grassroots organizations -- play vital roles in the social safety net. They are not all alike but vary in key ways between different religions in how the religious aspect shapes their identity and operations -- whether there are specific religious practices or less obvious religion-shaped decision-making styles or even a commitment to avoiding an overt religious identity. And, depending on the religion, they may have extensive ties to one or more congregations, be embedded in an extensive local religious infrastructure, or sit at the center of a network of individuals and congregations specifically recruited to be the support base.

Given such actual complexity and variability, private funders, governments, and other social actors seeking to effectively engage with and support faith-based organizations should actively seek to go beyond a one-size-fits-all approach. However, constitutional requirements and operational realities may limit how adaptable government policy, in particular, can be.

Read the whole  Policy Statement - (4 pages, 60 KB)

The latest and back editions of Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance's eNews for Faith-Based Organizations can be reached with a click-up.  The latest edition (Nov16,2k10) carries an up-to-the-moment article "Congressional Hearings on Obama Faith-Based Initiative" issues an alert regarding Nov 18's meeting of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil R+ts and Civil Liberties of the House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary.  The hearing begins at 10:30 am EST.  Live video shoud be available at the committee's  work in these sessions of hearings.

-- Politicarp