Displaying items by tag: religious discrimination

Six Jewish parents and two Jewish schools are suing the California Department of Education over their refusal to allow families whose children have special needs to use federal and state funds designated for such students to attend private religious schools. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the plaintiffs, said that California’s campaign against Jewish children with disabilities and the schools they want to attend is shameful and unconstitutional; adding, ‘We argued in court that the government cannot exclude religious people and schools from a public benefit simply because they are religious.’ Plaintiffs Chaya and Yoni Loffman said, ‘We want to educate our son in a safe, supportive learning environment that meets his unique needs and upholds our shared religious beliefs.’ The court is expected to issue a ruling in the case of Loffman v. California Department of Education in the coming months.

Religious intolerance in one of the most religious countries in Africa is dominating debates ahead of next year's elections. It is rare to find anyone not devout in the mainly Muslim north or mainly Christian south. There is no official religion. Although they are guaranteed religious freedom the religious minorities live in fear. ‘We don't have freedom to worship. You are in trouble if you dress like a Muslim. We hide our religion.’ said Ibrahim, a Muslim in southern Nigeria. Obinna Nnadi once lived in the north but felt it was not safe to practise Christianity, so she moved her family south. Islamic law is in place in much of northern Nigeria. Rev Caleb Ahima, vice-president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, acknowledges that religious discrimination is a consequence of location. Meanwhile Odinani, the African traditional religion before Christianity, is making a comeback with younger people who are also facing intolerance and aggression.

According to a lawsuit, Alaska Airlines violated federal and state anti-discrimination laws when it fired two Christian flight attendants who spoke out against the Biden administration-backed Equality Act bill which adds ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ to a protected classes list for public places, education and employment. Marli Brown and Lacey Smith, who have brought the lawsuit, were fired shortly after expressing concern about the bill after the airline asked for employees’ comments on it. They were compelled by their Christian faith to speak out against the bill's impact on religious freedom and women's sports, among other things. The airline immediately removed them from flight schedules, terminated their employment, and disparaged their religious expression and beliefs as 'hateful,' 'discriminatory,' and 'offensive’. Alaska Airlines' treatment of the two women and its various public statements show that it does not tolerate employees who hold biblically-based, traditional religious beliefs on issues of sexual morality, the lawsuit says.

Just days after Robert Flello, a practising Roman Catholic, was selected to stand for the Lib Dems for this week's general election, he was stood down and told by party officials that his views on abortion and same sex marriage, shared on social media, were ‘not those that would be expected of a liberal’ and it was therefore ‘not appropriate’ for him to represent them. Flello said, ‘Initially the Lib Dems told me that they were deselecting me for my views, then during the following week they gave me all sorts of other reasons and suggested that I retweeted a very aggressive tweet. But I have not done those things. So I can only conclude, in fact I'm absolutely convinced, that they are discriminating against me on the grounds of my faith.’

Freddie O’Neil grew up in care, was abused by the system as a child, and became an adult not knowing what God, family and love are. He is now a convicted rapist based in the secure John Howard Centre. He found Jesus in prison and immersed himself in the Gospel, but when he was transferred to the centre he realised there were no Sunday services or any Christian input during the week. He said, ‘I relied on this so much for my well-being that I raised the question, but they just laughed and ignored me.’ Friday prayers for Muslims happened every week, so he asked the Christian Legal Centre for support. After letters, discussions, and threats of court proceedings, all Christian patients at the centre now have a Sunday communion service, and the centre allows them to exercise their faith in Christ. See also the article on ‘Prisoners and faith communities’ in the UK section.

Chad Robichaux, of the Mighty Oaks Foundation (a charity supporting those suffering from wartime trauma), was told he could not use the label 'Christian' to boost his advert on the Google-owned YouTube platform as it violated the site's advertising policy. When Mr Robichaux objected to their decision, YouTube said that targeting users based on their religion was in breach of their advertising policy, but adverts can include the term 'Christian' in them and still hope to reach a Christian audience. Mr Robichaux then accused the tech giant of religious discrimination, saying, ‘We ran the exact same ad with the keyword Muslim and it was approved but Christian was not. Additionally, we've run ads with the keyword Christian for years. This year alone we had 150,000 impressions on that word in our ads.’ He was told the discriminating policy was new. Google has yet to comment publicly on the matter.

In 2016 Richard Page was sacked as a magistrate and lost his position as a non-executive director at an NHS trust, after saying that it was best for adopted children to be placed in families headed by a mother and father. His barrister has now told an appeal tribunal that judges should not be removed because of political pressures.The case represents a watershed moment in this nation’s history. The tribunal is tasked with ruling on whether HM Courts and Tribunal Service (the symbol of justice and fairness in our nation) can dismiss someone for holding and expressing Christian beliefs - sincere beliefs demonstrable through social science, biology and psychology. Pray for Richard and his family as they cope with this long-drawn-out situation. See also