Christian Denomination Plans To Avoid Civil Rights Laws By Pretending Receptionists Are ‘Ministers’

Last edited Sun Jun 14, 2015, 07:23 AM - Edit history (1)

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/06/13/3668626/inside-southern-baptist-conventions-devious-plan-defeat-anti-discrimination-laws/

BY IAN MILLHISER POSTED ON JUNE 13, 2015 AT 9:00 AM



CREDIT: AP PHOTO/MARK HUMPHREY, FIL

A manual co-authored by a commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and a leading anti-gay legal organization warns of an apocalyptic future for conservative religious groups opposed to equal rights for LGBT Americans.

“[D]isputes about what constitute a healthy vision for marriage and sexuality,” writes Russell Moore, the president of the Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, “have resulted in the cultural harassment, intimidation, and even legal punishment for those whose consciences are held captive to the Scripture’s teaching on God’s purpose for marriage and sexuality.” The manual’s introduction warns that “no ministry will remain immune if they remain true to Scripture’s teachings about sexuality and gender,” and the manual itself is peppered with stories of anti-gay business owners and other individuals who were subject to legal sanction by what the manual refers to as “SOGIs” — laws preventing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Yet the manual also brings tidings of great joy to religious organizations that wish to deny equal rights to LGBT individuals. The bulk of the manual consists of legal advice for churches, Christian-identified schools and ministries that want to maximize their ability to discriminate. The manual, which is entitled Protecting Your Ministry From Sexual Orientation Gender Identity [sic] Lawsuits, offers advice on topics ranging from how churches should establish a “formal membership policy” to how schools should design their admissions procedures to introduce “circuit breakers” that are “designed to interrupt or terminate the admissions process if the school receives an application evidencing a lifestyle or belief system inconsistent with the school’s religious beliefs or mission.”

The manual’s boldest advice, however, are instructions that seek to immunize religious employers from literally any civil rights lawsuit brought by a fired employee.

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