Religious Liberty and Gender and Sexual Orientation Nondiscrimination Legislation: A Critical Analysis of the Catholic Perspective

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Authors

Salzman, Todd A.
Lawler, Michael G.

Issue Date

2017

Volume

14

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Journal Article

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Abstract

Following the legalization of same-sex marriage by the U.S. Supreme Court, the next major struggle for equality rights for members of the LGBT community is the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops asserts that ENDA threatens religious liberty. Its position on religious liberty has evolved from seeking to protect the inward practice within a religious institution to protecting also the outward practice of a religious institution that serves diverse national populations. It has also been extended to embrace protecting public and private corporations and individual employers who have moral objections to specific types of sexual behavior and to moving beyond an exemption from a just law based on religious freedom to advocating the block or repeal of an unjust nondiscrimination law. We defend ENDA legislation and critique the USCCB position on its misperception of reductive secularism, lack of nuance in its understanding of the relationship between the common good and public order, failure to justify its claim that ENDA is an unjust law, and ignoring the authority of a well-informed conscience. We conclude that the USCCB is advocating unjust discrimination in its attempt to block or repeal ENDA legislation. |Keywords: religious liberty, Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), LGBT, sexual orientation; gender identity; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

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Citation

Salzman, T. A., & Lawler, M. G. (2017). Religious Liberty and Gender and Sexual Orientation Nondiscrimination Legislation: A Critical Analysis of the Catholic Perspective. Supplement Series for the Journal of Religion & Society Supplement Series, 14, 105-132.

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Rabbi Myer and Dorothy Kripke Center, Creighton University

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CC-BY 4.0

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http://hdl.handle.net/10504/109263

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https://moses.creighton.edu/jrs/toc/SS14.html

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1941-8450

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Supplement Series for the Journal of Religion and Society