Last week, the US Senate passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) on a vote of 64-32. Just so we know what we are talking about, click here to read the complete text of the bill. Here is a bullet list of what it does and just as importantly, what it doesn’t do:
What ENDA Does
- Extends federal employment discrimination protections currently provided based on race, religion, gender, national origin, age and disability to sexual orientation and gender identity. Thus, ENDA extends fair employment practices — not special rights — to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
- Prohibits employers, employment agencies, and labor unions from using an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity as the basis for employment decisions, such as hiring, firing, promotion, or compensation.
- Prohibits covered entities from subjecting an individual to different standards or treatment based on that individual’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity or discriminating against an individual based on the sexual orientation or gender identity of those with whom the individual associates.
- Provides for the same procedures, and similar, but somewhat more limited, remedies as are permitted under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Applies to Congress and the federal government, as well as employees of state and local governments.
What ENDA Does Not Do
- Cover small businesses with fewer than 15 employees.
- Apply to religious organizations. Any religious entity exempt from Title VII’s prohibition on religious discrimination will continue to be able to exclude gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees.
- Allow preferential treatment, including quotas, based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Allow for a “disparate impact” claim available under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Therefore, an employer is not required to justify a neutral practice that may have a statistically disparate impact on sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Allow the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to compel employers to collect statistics on sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Apply retroactively.
As the post title says, I think that the House should vote on the bill and pass it but it doesn’t look like John Boehner is going to allow a vote on the bill.
Since passage of the bill, I’ve received dozens of emails from the usual self-described “Christian” organizations opposed to the bill. They talk of hidden agendas to destroy traditional marriage, attacks on Christianity, it is an affront to religious liberty, it means the federal government is equating homosexuals with heterosexuals, etc.
So I thought I’d take a moment and tell you what I think and why. As a self-described “follower of Jesus”, I try to apply His two commandments to everything in my life. I said I try! 😉
First would be “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Second is “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” It is that second one that compels me to support ENDA, especially considering the close to Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount“. Matthew 7:12: says:
This is what our Scriptures come to teach: in everything, in every circumstance, do to others as you would have them do to you.
More than simply doing no harm to others, He is commanding us TO DO for others. From the New American Commentary:
7:12 In view of God’s generosity to us, treating others in the manner we would like ourselves to be treated is the least we can do. “As you would have them” does not imply “in order that they might,” as some have mistakenly thought. Verse 12 embraces an impressive amount of scriptural teaching, including, as Jesus says, the “Law and the Prophets” (the Old Testament). This epigram has become known as the Golden Rule because of its central role in Christian ethics. Jesus assumes no pathological deviations in which one would desire to harm oneself, and he presupposes the perspective of disciples who seek what is God’s desire rather than self-aggrandizement.
Many parallels to this “rule” appear in the history of religion. Of those closest in time and milieu to Jesus, see especially Tob 4:15, Hillel in b. Sabb. 31a, and Did. 1:2. Most of these parallels phrase the rule negatively (sometimes called the “silver rule”), implying, “Don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you.” It is not clear how significant this difference is, but Jesus’ positive phrasing does remind us of the principle that we can never fully carry out Christ’s commands. As Mounce explains: “In its negative form, the Golden Rule could be satisfied by doing nothing. The positive form moves us to action on behalf of others.”97 But from a Christian perspective even negative commands imply positive action. Thus, e.g., in the first antithesis (5:21–26) even if we succeed in not murdering and in not hating or verbally abusing others, we still have not completely obeyed until we earnestly seek others’ well-being. With its reference to “the Law and the Prophets,” 7:12 ties back in with 5:17 and provides a frame to bracket the body of the sermon.
Blomberg, C. (1992). Matthew (Vol. 22, pp. 130–131). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
I cannot fathom how it could be in the best interests of my neighbor to fire them simply because of their sexual orientation. Or not to hire them in the first place. We as followers of Jesus are commanded to go forth and tell the world that good news. How can we do that if we continue to separate ourselves from the world under the pretense of “protecting” our beliefs?
This basically expands liberty in the U.S. It doesn’t restrict religious freedom – churches and other religious organizations are exempt from enforcement. For those saying that it isn’t constitutional, that horse left the barn long ago and is not going back in. Some say that it will expand frivolous lawsuits but that is protected by the clause that eliminates disparate impact lawsuits. It also specifically prohibits quotas and preferential treatment.
It is time for Republicans to be men and women of courage. Justice should be blind and the scales of justice balanced. Let’s do the right thing and encourage passage of this law.