Religious Liberty Act would restore protections The Layman Online Thursday, September 9, 1999 Justice Fellowship, part of the internet ministry of Charles Colson, has published a document explaining the Religious Liberty Protection Act, a bill that protects religious practices from governmental interference. The bill is currently being considered by Congress. The document says the act is necessary in the aftermath of a 1997 Supreme Court decision that removed essential legal protections for religious freedom when it struck down the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which had been passed in 1993, unanimously in the House of Representatives and with only three dissenting votes in the Senate. "The result of this decision allowed governmental policies and regulations to substantially and unnecessarily burden religious practices," Justice Fellowship says. "The Court not only put religious liberty in peril, it usurped the authority of the Congress and the people to pass laws in accordance with their deepest moral traditions. The Court further told Congress it didn't have the authority to expand civil liberties! Many believe this has caused one of the greatest Constitutional crises in our history." Justice Fellowship cited several cases in which religious groups are currently restricted in their ministries: A small church in Florida is ordered to stop its ministry of feeding the homeless. Orthodox Jews in Los Angeles cannot practice their religion because an ordinance bars houses of worship within walking distance of their homes. Greenville, South Carolina, banned Home Bible studies but not Tupperware meetings or football parties. A family in Michigan was tried under criminal statutes because they educated their children at home for religious reasons without certification. (The Michigan Supreme Court overturned the conviction.) In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Christian day care centers were threatened with closure if they didn't change their hiring practices, which barred hiring non-Christians. In Douglas County, Colorado, officials tried to limit the operational hours of churches.

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