Steven Birn
Steven Birn Speaks
The Obama administration gave us something rare yesterday: In Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v EEOC, the Obama administration gave us a unanimous Supreme Court when it argued that the church had no right to fire its clergy in a way it deems discrimination.
The Court sided with the Constitution and upheld the so-called ministerial exemption which keeps the government out of the church’s employment of clergy. In other words, to have the government prosecute the church for discrimination is a violation of the free exercise clause of the Constitution.
The Obama administration took up the cause of Cheryl Perich, a minister at the Hossana-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church in Michigan. (we’ll ignore the absurdity of female clergy and the scriptural evidence against such for the time being) Perich is a somewhat sympathetic person, she has a disability and was more or less fired because of it. The church contends she cannot do her job, the government contends this is a violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
It’s always interesting to see which cases the left takes up because they almost always involve a sympathetic person. That gets us emotionally on the side of the left, even when the law is or should be elsewhere. Perich is one such person. She’s a called minister, teaching as a ‘called’ teacher at the church school. If the government can prosecute an ADA claim against the church in this situation, the precedent would essentially allow all Federal law to be used against the church. As such, if Perich won the Federal government could bring discrimination charges against churches that refuse to ordain women. When homosexuals become a protected class, they could bring charges against churches that refuse to ordain them.
This would be a terrible thing for the church for it would now be subject to the whims of the state. All of this could have happened if the incredibly sympathetic person of Perich had won her ADA claim. Court decisions have consequences, some intended, some unintended. The Obama administration and the left surely intended to use a decision in favor of Perich against the church for so-called discrimination in other matters even if the court had only intended to limit such suits to the ADA.
Thankfully a unanimous court upheld the right of the church to follow scripture rather than the whims of Federal law. In ruling against Perich, the church is for the time being protected from absurd discrimination suits that seek to force a secular worldview on the church. Arguably the case didn’t go far enough as it distinguished between Perich being a ‘called’ minister and other law teachers at the school. The next case is going to be whether a church can fire lay employees (think janitors, secretaries etc) for religious reasons.
The Constitution protects the church from Federal involvement via the free exercise clause. This is perhaps the most important clause in the Constitution because it protects the right of the church to follow God’s commands rather than the governments. The Federal government, according to the Constitution, has no say whatsoever in the theological positions of the church. It has no right, according to the Court yesterday, to get involved in the employment affairs of the church or her ministers. It was a great day for religious liberty, all thanks to the arrogance of the Obama administration.
Steven Birn is an attorney and conservative political junkie and blogger. For more news and commentary visit Steven Birn Speaks.
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I am one of those people who believe in the Bible and it’s clear intructions concerning women in the ministry. It is clear that women can proclaim the Gospel. But it is also very clear that women are not supposed to Be in Leadership over men as Pastor’s, Bishops, or Deacons in the true Church of God.
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