Michael D. Peabody
On Nov. 10, 2005, two weeks after an intense lobbying effort led by Adventist Congressional Liaison James Standish and supported by Pacific Union Conference Government Affairs Director Michael Peabody, the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations held a hearing on the House version of the Workplace Religious Freedom Act (WRFA), H.R. 1445. Co-sponsors Rep. Mark Souder (R-Indiana) and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-New York) made passionate arguments in support of the Act.
“America was founded as a place of religious freedom, yet today those very freedoms are being denied as some employers refuse to work out reasonable accommodations for their employees’ religious observances,” said Souder.
In a pre-hearing press conference held by the North American Religious Liberty Association, two Seventh-day Adventist victims of religious discrimination, Deborah Fountain (California) and Miguel Hernandez (Arizona), spoke in support of WRFA.
Hernandez described what it was like to lose his job rather than deny his faith: “When I lost my job, I lost my dream.”
This bill is our top legislative priority because it will directly impact the 1,000 Adventists who will lose their jobs in 2006 because they chose to honor God by keeping the Sabbath, and the many more who will choose to compromise in order to avoid severe financial hardship.
Although WRFA had been introduced in some form for over a decade, it had not received a hearing due to pressure from pro-business groups concerned with increased litigation and civil rights groups concerned that WRFA might give religious people the right to harass others in the workplace.
These concerns are unfounded. WRFA will give businesses clearer guidelines for dealing with religious accommodation and will not enable Christians or other people of faith to create hostile work environments by harassing others. The bill, which will only affect businesses with 15 or more employees, has created a more positive environment in New York state where it was introduced several years ago.
The Employer-Employee Relations Subcommittee has not yet voted on the law, but has requested more information on the success of the New York law.
While WRFA enjoys strong bipartisan support, the battle is heating up as opponents begin to spend more serious money to oppose our objective. Now is the time to pray more, write more letters, make more phone calls, talk to more friends, and get involved.
Here's what you can do: Pray for those who are facing challenges at work, and act in harmony with your prayers; learn about WRFA at religiousliberty.info and churchstate.org; write a letter to your member of the House of Representatives; write a letter to each of your two Senators; and launch a petition drive.
