Media: Censorship: Anti-Religious Censorship by New Media Companies

e-News for Faith-Based Organizations (Nov2,2k11)

A report by Stanley Carlson-Thies appears in the IRFA newsletter for Nov2,2k11

— items reposted here by Lawt, juridics columnist for refWrite frontpage.

The third of five briefings for Capitol Hill staff on institutional religious freedom issues was hosted by IRFA and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty on October 19.  The title:  "Protecting Conscience and Faith-Based Institutions in Health Care." The expert panelists were Jonathan Imbody, VP for Government Relations for the Christian Medical Association; Richard Doerflinger, Associate Director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops; Susan Post, Executive Director of Esperanza Health Center, Philadelphia; and Mark Rienzi, constitutional law professor at the Catholic University of America.  Alan Hurst from the Becket Fund moderated the panel. Video of the briefing is available here.  The Council for Christian Colleges and Universities is videotaping each briefing.  Videos are posted to a special channel onVimeo.com, here . The fourth briefing, Safeguarding Faith-Based Services Against Charges of Discrimination, will be held at noon on Friday, Nov. 4, in the Capitol Visitors Center, HVC-201.  Panelists are Marc Stern, American Jewish Committee; Dan Avila, US Conference of Catholic Bishops; and Eric Scalise, American Association of Christian Counselors. The final briefing, Dec. 9th, is on protecting the religious mission of faith-based education.

NRB Study Exposes Anti-Religious Censorship by New Media Companies

Apple, alas, is a notorious anti-religious censor, having ejected from the iTunes App Store two Christian apps--one on the Manhattan Declaration, one from Exodus International.  Apple also stopped participating in the Christian Values Network (now CGBG), an online service through which shoppers can direct a portion of their purchase amounts to charities they choose, because the service allows shoppers to donate to allegedly "discriminatory" Christian organizations. But this is just the tip of the high-tech censorship iceberg, according to a new study by the John Milton Project for Religious Free Speech, a project of the National Religious Broadcasters.  In its report, "True Liberty in a New Media Age:  An Examination of the Threat of Anti-Christian Censorship and Other Viewpoint Discrimination on New Media Platforms," NRB names other instances of censorship and, more important, points out the right asserted by companies such as Apple, Google, Facebook, Verizon, and Comcast to decide for themselves what views are objectionable and will be banned.  Such companies play a vastly important "gatekeeper" role in our communications and, thus, though they are private entities, need to assume some responsibility for the free flow of information, including information that they might not agree with. This is a careful and sobering study, looking to Supreme Court standards concerning free speech to develop best practice recommendations for social media companies.  The Twitterati will be glad to learn that Twitter stands out as a company committed to protecting speech. Find the report here.

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.

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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" in which is issued 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 Nov 18 hearing begins at 10:30 am EST.  Live video shoud be available at the committee's webs+t.                  

-- Politicarp