The Religion Law Quiz Podcast

Religion Law Quiz #54 (Faith-Friendly Workplace certification)

Today's Religion Law Quiz builds on Religion Law Quiz #53.  As you'll recall, Gina's client asked her about how it could measure how well it is doing from a DE&I perspective when it comes to employees of faith.  The client completed the survey for the Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) Index and found it is doing quite well.  Recognizing that recruiting and retaining quality workers is in its best interests, the company wants to publicly hold itself out as being a faith-friendly workplace.  What should Gina suggest her client do in this regard? 
 
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Answer: Gina can also point out to her client that Religious Freedom & Business Foundation has created a Faith-Friendly Workplace certification wherein companies can be recognized and publicly hold themselves out as being a faith friendly workplace.  See https://religiousfreedomandbusiness.org/certification
 
 
Disclaimer: The Religion Law Quizzes are provided as a service to you. They are intended only for educational purposes. Nothing in the Quizzes is intended to be legal advice and they should not be relied upon as conclusive on any issue discussed therein.

Religion Law Quiz #53 (Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) Index)

Gina is outside employment counsel to a moderately sized business, and she regularly advises her client on diversity, equity and inclusion issues.  Her client genuinely strives to employ DE&I principles in the workplace for everyone, including those who identify as LGBTQ+ and racial minorities.  Recently, one thing that has been bothering the head of HR is that the company does not seem to have a good barometer for determining how well it is doing with respect to DE&I when it comes to people of faith.  The HR head has asked Gina if she knows of any resource in this regard.  Where should Gina direct her client? 
 
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Answer: Gina should suggest that her client consider completing the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation's survey for its annual Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) Index.  The REDI Index to measures how faith-friendly a workplace is.  Many large, national companies participate in the survey including American Airlines, Intel, Dell, PayPal, Target, Tyson Foods, AIG, Google, American Express, Ford, etc.  Those companies rank in the top for being faith-friendly.  https://religiousfreedomandbusiness.org/redi
 
Disclaimer: The Religion Law Quizzes are provided as a service to you. They are intended only for educational purposes. Nothing in the Quizzes is intended to be legal advice and they should not be relied upon as conclusive on any issue discussed therein.

Religion Law Quiz #52 (The purpose of the Religion Clauses of the Constitution)

According to the Supreme Court, what is the purpose of the Religion Clauses of the Constitution? 
 
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Answer: “The Religion Clauses of the Constitution aim to foster a society in which people of all beliefs can live together harmoniously…” American Legion v. American Humanist Association, 139 S.Ct. 2067, 2074 (2019). 
 
Disclaimer: The Religion Law Quizzes are provided as a service to you. They are intended only for educational purposes. Nothing in the Quizzes is intended to be legal advice and they should not be relied upon as conclusive on any issue discussed therein.

Religion Law Quiz #51 (Practical layperson guides to common religious freedom questions)

Larry, Janet and Gina are each attorneys.  Larry works for the state, Janet is in-house counsel for a corporation and Gina does med-mal defense work.  When they attend church and other civic events they are regularly hit with questions like, "Oh, you are an attorney.  Please tell me about this religious issue in my child's school."  or "Please tell me what to do about this religious issue at work."  Neither Larry, Janet or Gina deal with this type of law, but they would like to help their friends.  Where can Larry, Janet and Gina point their respective friends to find some layman explanations of common questions dealing with law and religion questions? 
 
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Answer: While there are various places on the Internet, one good place to start is the non-partisan International Center for Law and Religion Studies which has a variety .pdf downloads dealing with religion law issues that people encounter such as: (1) A Parent's Guide to Religion in the Public Schools, (2) Teacher's Guide to Religion in the Public Schools, (3) Religious Freedom in the Workplace: an Employee's Guide, and (4) Religious Freedom in the Workplace: An Employer's Guide.  https://www.iclrs.org/religious-freedom-brochures/
 
 
Disclaimer: The Religion Law Quizzes are provided as a service to you. They are intended only for educational purposes. Nothing in the Quizzes is intended to be legal advice and they should not be relied upon as conclusive on any issue discussed therein.

Quiz #50 (Part 3) -- Defending Religious Freedom -- Talk About the Good that Religion Does

One simple way to protect and defend religious freedom is to talk about the good that religion does.  News stories tend to focus on negative rather than positive things.  Frequently, when we hear about religion in the news it often is because of some wrong that someone or some group has done.  But far, far too often the news does not report the incredible good that people of faith do.  These quiets acts of service are all around us.  One simple way that we can protect and defend religious freedom is to simply talk about the good that other people of faith do.  And don’t just talk about people of your faith!  Talk about the good that people of many different faiths do. 
 
Here are links to past Quiz 50 parts (defending religious freedom)
https://religionlawquiz.podbean.com/e/quiz-50-part-2-defending-religious-freedom-share-how-religion-helps-you/ 
https://religionlawquiz.podbean.com/e/quiz-50-part-1-defending-religious-freedom-tie-your-actions-to-religion/ 
 
Disclaimer: The Religion Law Quizzes are provided as a service to you. They are intended only for educational purposes. Nothing in the Quizzes is intended to be legal advice and they should not be relied upon as conclusive on any issue discussed therein.

Religion Law Quiz #49 (Does the Cross have a secular purpose?)

Does the cross have any secular purpose?   
 
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According to the Supreme Court, the answer is “Yes.”  Here’s what the Supreme Court stated in 2019. 
 
The cross came into widespread use as a symbol of Christianity by the fourth century, and it retains that meaning today. But there are many contexts in which the symbol has also taken on a secular meaning. Indeed, there are instances in which its message is now almost entirely secular.
 
A cross appears as part of many registered trademarks held by businesses and secular organizations, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Bayer Group, and some Johnson & Johnson products.  Many of these marks relate to health care, and it is likely that the association of the cross with healing had a religious origin. But the current use of these marks is indisputably secular.
 
American Legion v. American Humanist Association, 139 S.Ct. 2067, 2074-75 (2019)
Disclaimer: The Religion Law Quizzes are provided as a service to you. They are intended only for educational purposes. Nothing in the Quizzes is intended to be legal advice and they should not be relied upon as conclusive on any issue discussed therein.
 

Religion Law Quiz #48 (Can a prosecutor record a prisoner's confession to a priest?)

Can a prosecutor secretly record an accused person's confession to his or her spiritual leader and then use that taped confession to help convict the person of the heinous crime that has been committed? 
 
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Answer: No.  The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Mockaitis v. Harcleroad, 104 F.3d 1522 (9th Cir. 1997) (overruled on other grounds by City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997)) is instructive in this regard.  At issue in Mockaitis was whether a prosecutor’s taping of an accused killer’s confession to a Catholic priest violated the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.  The Ninth Circuit noted that such an action clearly was a substantial burden on the priest’s exercise of religion.  Id. at 1530.  Furthermore, the Ninth Circuit found that taping the confession was not the least restrictive means to accomplishing the government’s compelling governmental interest.  Id.  Mockaitis demonstrates that governmental intrusion into the priest/penitent communications—an area of communication that has long been protected throughout the history of the United States—is not the least restrictive means of accomplishing a compelling governmental interest.  See 104 F.3d at 1532 (“the history of the nation has shown respect for the character of sacramental confession as inviolable by government agents interested in securing evidence of crime from the lips of [a] criminal.”). 
 
 Disclaimer: The Religion Law Quizzes are provided as a service to you. They are intended only for educational purposes. Nothing in the Quizzes is intended to be legal advice and they should not be relied upon as conclusive on any issue discussed therein.

Religion Law Quiz #45 (Reconciliation of church financial difficulties)

The empirical evidence is that congregationalist churches tend to have more financial difficulties than hierarchical churches.  When a church is facing financial difficulties, what is the typical process that its leader goes through before finally addressing the problem? 
 
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A 2015 Ohio State Law Journal article by Professor Pamela Foohey analyzed the process that church leaders go through when addressing their church's financial problems.  Prof. Foohey noted:
 
Consistent with research regarding how individuals experience their justiciable problems, leaders initially chose to do nothing about their organization’s financial problem or to turn to self-help techniques, such as approaching creditors themselves.  Only when creditors pushed for payment or when members or trusted contacts brought law to their attention did their thoughts and actions begin to change. Leaders then turned to other pastors, congregants, and friends to confirm that the situations were legal problems and to discuss concerns about what filing would say about themselves and their congregations. Leaders’ social networks also led them to attorneys, who discussed the benefits of reorganization. With this information, leaders rationalized their decisions to file, which allowed them to cope with their continued views of filing for bankruptcy as stigmatized and shameful.
 
Pamela Foohey, “When Faith Falls Short: Bankruptcy Decisions of Churches”, 76 Ohio State Law Journal 1319, 1323-34 (2015). 
 
Disclaimer: The Religion Law Quizzes are provided as a service to you. They are intended only for educational purposes. Nothing in the Quizzes is intended to be legal advice and they should not be relied upon as conclusive on any issue discussed therein.
 

Religion Law Quiz#46 (Control of church property when a schism occurs)

Religious schisms in churches happen from time to time.  In more extreme situations, this will cause a number of people to leave a particular church.  That, in turn, raises a critical question: Who controls the church's property?  The general rule on this question is the same in Kansas and Missouri.  What is it? 
 
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Consider the following cases from Kansas and Missouri. 
 
“When a schism occurs in a church the all important question is which of the rival factions adheres to the fundamentals of the original tenets, beliefs, rules and practices of the organization and as against those who have departed therefrom the civil courts when called upon will award the church property to those who continue to adhere thereto.”   Whipple v. Fehsenfeld, 173 Kan. 427, 432, 249 P.2d 638, 642 (Kan. 1952) (citing Hughes v. Grossman, 166 Kan. 325, 201 P.2d 670, Syl. 4 (1949)); see also Simpson v. Mullineaux, 188 Kan. 139, 141, 360 P.2d 893, 895 (Kan. 1961). 
 
 
“It is the general rule that, in event of a schism in a church, the right to possession and control of the church property remains in that faction, whether majority or minority, which adheres to the faith, doctrine and established practices of the church as it existed prior to the division.”   Mills v. Yount, 393 S.W.2d 96, 100 (Mo. App. 1965); see also Zaiser v. Miller, 656 S.W.2d 312, 316–17 (Mo.App. S.D. 1983); Lewis v. Wolfe, 413 S.W.2d 314, 319 (Mo. App. 1967).
 
 
Disclaimer: The Religion Law Quizzes are provided as a service to you. They are intended only for educational purposes. Nothing in the Quizzes is intended to be legal advice and they should not be relied upon as conclusive on any issue discussed therein.
 

Quiz #50 (Part 2) -- Defending Religious Freedom -- Share How Religion Helps You

Religion Law Quiz #50 asks the basic question about what can a regular, run-of-the-mill person do to protect and defend religious freedom.   I have some specific thoughts on this very important question, and I will be addressing it in a series of periodic episodes over the next few weeks.  Today’s episode (Part 2) gives the second suggestion: Share how religion helps you.  This idea was inspired by the tragic death of my son, Jonathan, who died in an accident on January 27, 2024.  The grief and sadness have been intense.  But my faith and believe in God have helped me tremendously through this difficult time.  As religious participation declines in the United States we are seeing a corresponding decline in appreciation for the role that religion plays in the lives of individuals.  But faith in God is real and it helps people so much!  One very simple way to counteract the lessening appreciation for religion is to simply share how your exercise of religion helps you.  In so doing, we strengthen the realization that religion is very important and the freedom to exercise it is worthy of continued protection it.  Here is a link to Part 1 in this series. 
 
https://religionlawquiz.podbean.com/e/quiz-50-part-1-defending-religious-freedom-tie-your-actions-to-religion/
 
Disclaimer: The Religion Law Quizzes are provided as a service to you. They are intended only for educational purposes. Nothing in the Quizzes is intended to be legal advice and they should not be relied upon as conclusive on any issue discussed therein.