By James D. Standish, JD, MBA
Miguel Hernandez walks cautiously to the congressional podium. His hair is carefully combed, he’s wearing his Sabbath best, and his notes are carefully printed on a little sheet of paper. He squints into the bright lights as a room packed with reporters and cameras waits silently. Nothing in Miguel’s life has prepared him for this moment.
He pauses before the microphone, clears his throat and begins to speak in a clear, strong voice. “My name is Miguel Hernandez, and I am here to tell you why the Workplace Religious Freedom Act is necessary.” Miguel relates his experience working for a large mining company. When the company changed hands, his new boss took an instant dislike to Miguel’s Sabbath-keeping. The harassment began and got steadily worse until Miguel was forced to leave his job.
“When I lost my job, I didn’t just lose a job, I lost my income," he continues. "And not just my income, but I also lost my family’s health benefits. And not just my job, my income and our health benefits — I lost my dream, my American dream.”
Miguel is not alone. On an average day in America, three Seventh-day Adventist Christians will be fired from their jobs for no crime other than keeping the Sabbath — that is more than one thousand each year. Many more will be harassed, demeaned and demoted by intolerant employers who believe their role as boss gives them the right to denigrate the religious beliefs and practices of their employees.
Between 1993 and 2003, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports the number of religious discrimination claims grew a staggering 82 percent. Religious liberty leaders report that there are two sure results of evangelistic campaigns today in America — a new round of baptisms and, with them, a new round of firings.
Something has to be done.
Ellen White puts it this way: “We are not doing the will of God if we sit quietly doing nothing to preserve liberty of conscience.” Following this instruction, Adventists are working hard for the passage of the Workplace Religious Freedom Act, a moderate piece of bipartisan legislation that requires employers to accommodate Sabbath-keeping and other religious practices of their employees if the employer can do so without incurring a significant cost or inconvenience.
But this bill isn’t going to pass by itself. We need all Seventh-day Adventists in the United States to raise their voices to Congress like the pioneers did in the 1880s. And it has never been easier. Simply visit
www.religiousliberty.info — the webpage of the NAD-affiliated North American Religious Liberty Association — and send an electronic letter supporting WRFA to your federal senators and federal congressman or woman in less than two minutes.
For those who want to do more, arrange for your church family to visit the representatives’ offices or invite your representatives to your church. The conference and union religious liberty departments will be delighted to support your efforts.
