Let’s say you belong to a mainline religious denomination. You’ve been working for the local Head Start program provided by a Baptist church for five years. You’ve been highly rated at your job. The kids like you, and the parents think you’re terrific.
But one day you go to work and are told you’re being fired. The reason? You aren’t a Baptist. You are shown the door – and even though Head Start is a taxpayer-funded program, you have no recourse.
Outrageous, right? Such a thing could never happen in America, right? Think again. It almost did.
On June 19, the U.S. Senate reauthorized Head Start by unanimous consent. For weeks, Senate passage of the bill had been held up because one senator wanted to bring an amendment to the Senate floor, promoted by Religious Right allies, to create a legal “right” to discriminate on religious grounds with government funds. Senate leaders ultimately convinced the senator to release that hold and to allow the bill to pass without the anti-civil rights provision.
Even though Head Start is not a religious program and even though it contains no religious worship or instruction, these members wanted to make it legal for religious groups that sponsor Head Start to screen employees and volunteers on the basis of religion.
Actually, they wanted the power to do a lot more than that. Under measures offered in the House of Representatives, church-sponsored Head Start programs could have rejected employees and parent volunteers for being the “wrong” religion or leading a lifestyle the church disapproves of.
That last category is pretty broad. It means some Head Start programs, even though they are supported by the taxpayer, could have fired an unwed mother, a gay person or someone who changed religions.
Americans United and its allies helped put a stop to this in the House of Representatives. In May, The House voted 222-195 to reject religious discrimination in Head Start. It took some time, but now the Senate has followed suit.
The Head Start bill must still go a House-Senate conference committee, but congressional developments are looking very promising. Here’s hoping that this is the start of a trend and that all social-service bills from here on out will be free of obnoxious efforts to promote religious bigotry with your tax dollars.
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