Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

June 2021 – On March 29 the nonprofit Religious Exemption Accountability Project (REAP) filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of 33 students against the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). The suit charges that it is unconstitutional for DOE to allow faith-based schools to “discriminate” against LGBTQ students when DOE grants religious exemptions that allow them to operate within their religious beliefs concerning sexuality.

The 25 schools cited in the suit are simply illustrations of the complaint against the DOE, but all faith-based schools will likely experience direct financial loss if REAP wins the case. Among the listed schools are Fuller Theological Seminary, Liberty University, and Moody Bible Institute.

Title IX of the U.S. DOE code clarifies that education programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance cannot discriminate on the basis of sex. However, faith-based schools may be granted a legal religious exemption “to the extent that application of Title IX would be inconsistent with the religious tenets of the organization.”

“This lawsuit is troubling because it further demonstrates how determined many in modern American society are to shake their fists in the face of the Holy God of the Bible,” said Abraham Hamilton, AFA general counsel and host of American Family Radio’s The Hamilton Corner.

baptistnews.com, 3/31/21