Needed legislation

Richard A. Sokerka

With religious freedom in the U.S. being chipped away by court ruling after court ruling, legislation has been introduced in Congress to stem that tide. It’s sad, indeed, that legislation is needed to protect the First Amendment guarantee of religious liberty, but such is the state of our nation today.

The First Amendment Defense Act (H.R. 2802, S. 1598) would bar the federal government from discriminating against individuals and organizations based upon their religious beliefs or moral convictions that marriage is the union of one man and one woman or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage. The Act provides broad protections against adverse federal actions directed toward individuals and organizations that act on such beliefs.

The legislation, introduced by Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Raúl Labrador, is strongly supported by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archbishops Salvatore Cordileone and William Lori, who head the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage and the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, respectively, have pointed out that the Act provides broad protections, covering such areas as federal contracts, grants, employment and tax-exempt status.

The Act is needed now because of growing intolerance toward religiously-minded individuals and organizations who want to live by their conviction that marriage is the union of one man and one woman or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage.

It is vital that Catholics contact their members in Congress to vote to pass this bill to prevent intolerance against people of faith at the federal level.