Faith demonstrates devotion to God by following His rules, honoring His words, and entrusting life to Him. It brings forth active obedience to the word of God. Faith is not merely a mental concept; it is an intellectual concept that motivates a person to act, labor, and obey. This results in solidarity among Christians and a desire to promote the gospel, yet, it frequently results in persecution.
Discrimination Against Christian Faith
According to United Nations Human Rights, any people who belong to religious or belief communities experience discrimination in their day-to-day lives because of the religion or belief they practice. They are prevented from fully exercising their civic, cultural, economic, political, and social rights due to unreasonable restrictions. Consequently, individuals of some religious or belief communities experience discrimination regarding their access to public education, health services, or public posts. Because of their religious connection, some may be arrested or even put to death in extreme circumstances.
Christianity Daily reports an example of this discrimination. As mentioned, a Christian educator who works for Loudon County Public Schools (LCPS) was given disciplinary action for inserting a verse from the Bible in her email signature. The order was issued to the teacher by LCPS to eliminate a declaration of her personal views from the signature box of her email. This directive was given solely based on the presumption that the expression was religious.
Moreover, the educator was sided by the Liberty Counsel. They addressed a letter to the interim superintendent of LCPS, Daniel Smith, in which they urged the teacher must be permitted to reinstate the Bible verse to the block that serves as her email signature.
As stated by Mast and Phillips of Liberty Counsel, using a verse from the Bible in the signature section of an email does not constitute a violation of the Establishment Clause. They brought up the point that an educator's private remarks in the workplace do not constitute state endorsement of any religious message the teacher may want to impart.
On the other hand, United Nations Human Rights added that the establishment of legislation had made a concerted state effort to address this problem. The ban on discrimination based on religious beliefs is a fundamental component of the leading global agreements on human rights.
It is the responsibility of states to fulfill their obligations to refrain from discerning against people or organizations based on their religion and beliefs to avoid such discrimination, including from non-state actors, and to guarantee that all residents of their territory are afforded equal access to all of the human rights guaranteed to them.
Also Read:New YouTube Series of Four Young Vloggers Shows How They Built Faith in Jesus
Law on Religious Discrimination
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against current or prospective workers based on religion. As per the Office of Civil Rights, a reasonable accommodation of an employee's or prospective employee's religious beliefs is another requirement of Title VII for employers unless the company can demonstrate that doing so would pose an "undue hardship" on the employer.
Religious practices are not limited to those that a church or another religious institution prescribes; instead, they also include socially acceptable ideas regarding right and wrong that are sincere and held with the power of centuries-old religious views.
Ideas can have a "religious" nature even if no religious group shares those ideas, and religious groups to which other people in the workplace belong do not accept those beliefs. Beliefs can be religious even though any religious community does not hold them.
As mentioned, it is against the law to discriminate against someone because of their religion in any element of their employment, including hiring, salary, assignment, firing, and classification of workers. Harassment based on a person's religious affiliation is likewise not allowed.
In addition, the law makes it illegal to harass someone at work or take any other action based on their affiliation, attributes, perception, or other factors. This provision of the law makes it illegal for an employer to punish an employee for opposing unlawful religious discrimination or for engaging in the complaint process.
Related Article: Loudon County Public Schools Didn't Allow a Teacher From Putting Bible Verse in Email Signature
