Religious Freedom Lately: Gordon College Lawsuit, Mask Mandates And More

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In the age of the pandemic, society is changing on all fronts. Stores are closing, businesses are going bankrupt and beloved institutions may be on their last legs. Houses of worship and religious groups are fighting to survive a tidal wave of lockdowns and restrictions. Here’s five cases of religious freedom to note.

1. Online Pastors Fight For The Right To Officiate Weddings

A Tennessee statute disqualifying clergy that received their bona fides online from officiating marriages is being put to the test.

A district court has held that the Universal Life Church has standing to contest the state’s restrictions on internet-ordained clergy.

According to Tennessee law:

In order to solemnize the rite of matrimony, any such minister, preacher, pastor, priest, rabbi or other spiritual leader must be ordained or otherwise designated in conformity with the customs of a church, temple or other religious group or organization; and such customs must provide for such ordination or designation by a considered, deliberate, and responsible act. Persons receiving online ordinations may not solemnize the rite of matrimony.

The Court held that whether or not any specific official intends to enforce the law, their capacity to crack down on clergy ordained over the internet makes them viable defendants:

The lack of any definitive disavowal of an intent to enforce the Amendment aside, the fact remains that the District Attorneys are prosecutors who could decide to enforce the law. This is sufficient to make them proper Defendants.

2. Federal Judge Tells Religious Students To Mask Up

A federal court has rejected the request for exemption from mask mandates from Catholic school parents saying that the requirement was an infringement on their children’s religious freedom.

The parents of students at the Resurrection School in Michigan sought to overturn compulsory mask-wearing at private, religious schools for kindergarten through fifth grade. They argued that the mandate violated student’s religious freedom.

Rejecting the claim, the Michigan court said that the plaintiffs failed to prove that the mask requirement disproportionately affected religious institutions or presented a targeted attack on their beliefs.

The court wrote in its ruling:

The order is clear: individuals over the age of five must wear a mask when they are out in public. Therefore, given the near-universal mask requirement, the Court finds nothing in the contours of the order at issue that correlate to religion, and finds that the order "cannot be plausibly read to contain even a hint of hostility towards religion."

Failing to find any reasonable case for the mandate violating Catholic doctrine or the plaintiffs’ freedom of religion, the court wrote:

The Court finds that the challenged face-mask requirement is neutral and generally applicable. Any burden on Plaintiffs' religious practices is incidental, and therefore, the orders are not subject to strict scrutiny.... Plaintiffs have failed to establish a likelihood of success on the merits of their First Amendment claim.

Religious schools in the state will continue to be included in the mask mandate.

3. Three Indian Christians Beg The Government To Save Them From Mean Orthodox Church Confessionals

Orthodox Christians in India have filed a petition against their own church, saying that the church’s compulsory Sacrament of Confession is an invasion of their privacy.

Participation in Confession on at least an annual basis is required by the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in order to maintain membership. Three members of the church have taken the issue to the Supreme Court of the country, seeking dispensation from the requirement. 

The petitioners also took issue with the church’s requirement that those financially capable help to support the institution via donations.

India’s National Commission for Women has previously tried to outright ban all confessions in Christian churches throughout the country.

Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay said of the previous attempts at outlawing confessional sacraments:

“[The ban] betrays a total lack of understanding of the nature, meaning, sanctity and importance of this Sacrament for our people; and also an ignorance of the strict laws of the Church to prevent any abuse,” he said. “Such a ban would be a violation of the freedom of religion guaranteed by the country’s constitution.”

The cardinal continued:

“Millions of people from all over the world, over the centuries, have testified to the spiritual benefit of this Sacrament and to the grace, pardon and peace they have experienced as a result of receiving this Sacrament,” he added. “I am confident the Government will totally ignore this absurd demand from the Commission.”

4. Court Bolsters California Governor’s Crackdown On Worship

The religious civil war in California continues.

A federal district court has refused to grant injunctive relief against indoor services for California houses of worship.

In its decision on the issue, the court stressed that it was balancing the necessity of religion against the danger of the ongoing pandemic, saying, “In this action brought by a San Diego church to challenge California’s COVID-19 regulation, the Court is asked to draw a difficult balance between religious liberty and public health.”

In its decision against churches seeking to hold indoor services, the court cited the “escalating” nature of the pandemic:

“Admittedly, this has been a rapidly evolving—and escalating—pandemic. And in this very case, the Supreme Court declined to intervene after the Court refused to enjoin California’s prior regulation. Now, by all measures, the pandemic is worse and more out of control in Southern California than when that decision was made. Nevertheless, the Court is tasked with deciding whether Chief Justice Roberts’ rationale for not intervening in this case has now “expired,” as Justice Gorsuch’s recent concurrence in another case suggests.”

In denying the churches’ petition for exemption from California’s lockdown restrictions, the court claimed that houses of worship were not bearing any unique burden.

5. Lawsuit Against Gordon College Could Set Precedent For Christian Campuses

In a bizarre case of identity crisis, a college is being sued for insisting against a professor’s will that she is, indeed, a minister.

Gordon College in Massachusetts has claimed that its faculty is equivalent to a ministry or religious leadership. The assertion comes as a justification for the school’s reluctance to promote Margaret DeWeese-Boyd to a full professor position, despite the recommendation of her peers.

DeWeese-Boyd has become known for her stance against the school’s views on LGBTQ issues and policies on sexuality.

Gordon College argues that her heterodox arguments are exactly the reason she wasn’t fit to be promoted. According to Gordon, adherence to evangelical orthodoxy is a key factor of a professor’s credibility, as they are religious leaders.

“When I interview a faculty member, I will liken joining Gordon College to joining a religious order,” D. Michael Lindsey, Gordon College president, said in a statement.

Hillary Schwab, attorney for DeWeese-Boyd wrote, “She did not: teach religion or the Bible; lead chapel services; take students to chapel services or other religious services; deliver sermons at chapel services; select liturgy, hymns, or other content for chapel services; and/or conduct Bible studies.”

The court will decide the capacity of the college’s employees, and what exemptions the school can take advantage of.

Timothy Nerozzi is a writer and editor from northeastern Pennsylvania. He covers religious issues with a focus on the Catholic Church and Japanese society and culture.