Federally Funded Groups Defend Hiring Fellow Believers
WASHINGTON – More than 100 leaders of religious groups are urging Congress to reject legislation that would prohibit them from hiring only fellow believers if they accept federal funds.
Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, says taxpayers shouldn’t fund religious charities that discriminate against nonbelievers in hiring.
But officials from Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish groups argue that while they serve people of any religion, it’s the shared faith of their employees that motivates and defines their mission.
In a letter to members of Congress, the religious groups note that their freedom to hire people of the same faith was protected under the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
(Source: OneNewsNow)
