Workplace Religious Beliefs

A federal court judge ruled that two Colorado churches do not have to comply with COVID-19 capacity limits or force their congregants to wear masks because that would violate the U.S. Constitution.

The annual report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom is an excellent source to examine religious freedom violations abroad, and provides policy recommendations to lawmakers.

Religious freedom in business: last month, the United Kingdom Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Christian-owned bakery that declined to bake a cake promoting same-sex marriage.

The Trinity Lutheran case is the U.S. Supreme Court’s latest religious liberty decision. Learn more about this important case with the overview update.

A few years back, values-based referrals by counselors were proper under the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics if done tactfully, so as not to wound the client, and were ethically permissible if the therapist, because of personal beliefs, could not provide what the client was seeking. Since we first reported on this issue, several big changes have altered that premise, most importantly, a major change in the ACA Code of Ethics.

Recent Court Cases Go Both Ways. Five recent decisions on the HHS mandate involve Christian for-profit companies. Each of these companies objected to providing contraceptives and sterilization, abortifacients, or both on religious grounds, and filed a lawsuit to avoid having to do so. Three decisions granted a preliminary injunction to plaintiffs so they would not have to provide the contraceptive coverage during the case. Two decisions went against the companies, one dismissing its claim, and one denying the preliminary injunction.