Ninth Circuit: World Vision Has the Right to Hire Only People Who Affirm Biblical View of Marriage

World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization, in 2014 changed its employment policy to allow people “married” to someone of the same sex to serve as employees. Richard Stearns, president of World Vision at the time, said that allowing this didn’t mean the organization endorsed the profaning of marriage.

A few days later, after a backlash, World Vision reversed the “married” couples decision. Months later, the organization asked the board members to sign a statement affirming marriage as the union between one man and one woman.

With this history in mind, World Vision is in court defending its freedom to hire individuals who share the organization’s belief about marriage.

Liberty Counsel (LC) announced that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has upheld World Vision’s right to hire people who believe that marriage is the union between one man and one woman.

According to LC, the court found a “ministerial exception to employment discrimination laws allowed World Vision to rescind a hiring offer to a woman because she is in a ‘same-sex marriage.'” From LC:

The ruling reads, “World Vision’s ‘core mission’ is to bear witness to Jesus Christ through acts of service, including support for children, those afflicted by conflict, and the poor, by partnering with churches, donors, and other members of the public through prayer and ministry. The CSRs’ [customer service representatives] responsibilities ‘lie at the very core of [World Vision’s] mission’ because CSRs are the organization’s ‘voice, face, and heart’—without the CSRs, World Vision would be severely hindered in pursuing its central religious mission.”

LC said the decision may have implications for future Title VII cases where religious freedom clashes with employment law. LC represents Liberty University in a case involving a man who wants to present as a woman at the evangelical university. The IT professional waited until his 90-day probation period was over before he dropped the bomb.

“Employees cannot demand that faith-based employers abandon their religious beliefs,” said Mat Staver, LC founder and chairman. “The law allows religious ministries to determine their religious beliefs and to require employees to act consistent with those beliefs.”

By Netaholic13 – Own work, CC BY 3.0, link

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