The Constitution continues to get in the way of radical Government overlords pressuring people to abandon their principles to do its bidding. And while it only takes a few judges to thwart that, for the moment, religious conscience has another defender—the US Fifth Circuit Court.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which is tasked with enforcing laws that make it illegal to discriminate against job applicants or employees based on a laundry list of “classes” (including religion), fined a Christain business in Texas. Braidwood, a wellness company, opposed allowing “employees to use restrooms that correspond to their gender identity, regardless of their biological sex or whether they have undergone sex-change surgery.”
The EEOC came down with the discrimination hammer (even though religion is a class the EEOC is supposed to protect). Braidwood sued.
BREAKING: America First Legal has won a major Fifth Circuit ruling against federal transgender edicts. The EEOC issued a federal mandate compelling employers to allow men to use the women’s facilities. Our client claimed this violated his rights — and the Fifth Circuit agreed.
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) June 21, 2023
The Court ruled that Braidwood is protected from discrimination by the EEOC under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The court’s decision stated, “On the merits, we decide that [the Religious Freedom Restoration Act] requires that Braidwood, on an individual level, be exempted from Title VII because compliance with Title VII post-Bostock would substantially burden its ability to operate per its religious beliefs about homosexual and transgender conduct. Moreover, the EEOC wholly fails to carry its burden to show that it has a compelling interest in refusing Braidwood an exemption, even post-Bostock.”
The First Amendment tells us that Congress shall make no law abridging religious freedom. I’m sure the genderstasi at the EEOC argued that Congress didn’t make a law; the EEOC made a rule. In real terms, there’s no difference if you are at the pointy end of the stick. Rulemaking with the force of law is law, but The Fifth Circus didn’t throw out the rule or make the case that Congress never intended Title VII to be used this way. It merely said that the Braidwood couldn’t be punished because another law (and related precedent) protects them.
Okay, but for how long? In the hands of progressives (lawmakers or rule-makers), that could transition at any moment into something the genderstasi can use to deny them their rights. And what about the religious rights of Christian women who = as a matter of conscience – are opposed to sharing a bathroom with a biological man?
The EEOC appears ready and willing to force employers to discriminate against them.
HT | TGP
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