Senior Chief Logistics Specialist Christopher Rodriguez reads a Bible at Naval Weapons Station Earle chapel in Colts Neck, New Jersey, on March 10, 2021. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Diana Quinlan)
A state court ruling in Wisconsin that Catholic Charities Bureau isn't religious enough to be exempted from a required state unemployment program now is under review by the state Supreme Court.
"Catholic Charities Bureau, our diocese’s social ministry arm, carries on the work of Christ by reflecting gospel values; everything they do advances the mission of the church," explained James Powers, bishop of the Diocese of Superior. "This backbone of our diocesan ministry has, for over a century, served those who have been forgotten, ignored, and pushed to the margins of society."
At issue is a state mandate for organizations to pay into the state's unemployment program, unless they are "religious."
Without the demand that it be part of the state program, the bureau could join the Wisconsin Catholic Church's own unemployment assistance program and save a lot of money, according to Becket Law, which is working on the case.
The trigger for being exempt from the state program is being "religious."
And the lower court decided because the Catholic program helped the disabled, the elderly, and those living in poverty – without soliciting their attendance at church – it wasn't.
Becket explained, "Religious organizations operated for a 'primarily religious purpose' are generally exempt under Wisconsin law from the state’s unemployment program, allowing them to join other unemployment compensation programs. But the lower court held that because serving those in need is not 'inherently' a religious activity, Catholic Charities Bureau did not qualify for this exemption. In fact, the court thought that Catholic Charities Bureau needed to proselytize and preach the faith to those it served for their ministry to be religious, even though the Catholic Church teaches that care for the poor should never be conditioned on acceptance of the church’s doctrine.
The state Supreme Court now has agreed to take up the arguments.
WND is now on Trump's Truth Social! Follow us @WNDNews
"The lower court ruling would have punished Catholic Charities Bureau for its good deeds," said Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket. "But saying a charity is religious only if it restricts its good deeds to those of the same faith misunderstands Catholic teaching, ignores Wisconsin law, and conflicts with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. We’re glad that the Wisconsin Supreme Court is stepping in to review the lower court’s misguided view that Catholic Charities Bureau can’t participate in a Catholic unemployment assistance program because it’s not coaxing the poor, the elderly, and the marginalized it serves to join the faith."
The Daily Caller News Foundation earlier documented that Becket accused the lower court's decision of being "deeply flawed."
Catholic Charities Bureau of the Diocese of Superior just asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to affirm that their mission of feeding the poor, helping the elderly, and caring for the disabled is a religious one. https://t.co/va9O5YyeAz
— BECKET (@BECKETlaw) January 12, 2023
The case asks the state Supreme Court to overturn the appeals court’s ruling to “preserve church-state relations in Wisconsin.” If allowed to remain, the petition argues, it would allow the government to make “intrusive inquiries” into the church affairs of many religious groups and decide whether or not those groups are religious enough.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Although millions of American parents send their precious children off to public school every day, imagining their kids’ days will be filled with reading, writing, arithmetic, science, history, sports and music, they’re not only in for a shock – but for total BETRAYAL. Today’s “public” (government) schools have become far-left ideological, political and religious indoctrination centers aimed at reprogramming and transforming America’s children.
Kids are being taught to HATE their own country and to see themselves and their parents as racists – or victims of racists. They are sexualized and corrupted, and many are groomed into the dark LGBT world, with almost 6,000 schools prohibiting parents from even hearing about their child’s transgender “transition.” In between all the far-left indoctrination and sexual corruption, teachers take time to scare children to death about the near-term end of life on earth due to “catastrophic climate change.” Another lie. But it’s all classic Marxism/communism, with even the “3 R’s” – reading, writing and arithmetic – now being corrupted with “woke,” “1984”-style madness.
Perhaps never has the true threat of today’s U.S. public school system been exposed as in the sensational April issue of WND’s critically acclaimed monthly Whistleblower magazine, titled “THE GREATEST BETRAYAL: How Marxism and madness have taken over America’s public school system.” Whistleblower is available in both the popular print edition and a state-of-the-art digital version, either single issues or discounted annual subscriptions.
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.
SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!
The post Bizarre: Court rules religious charity is not 'religious enough' appeared first on WND.
