Same-sex marriage advocates kiss on the steps of the Supreme Court and students attending religious educational institutions are preparing to kiss tax exemptions goodbye.
Obergefell v. Hodges heralds the birth of same-sex marriage rights, the conclusion of a decade-long civil dispute threatening to undermine a centuries-old institution.
The proposed First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) is one of few things left protecting religious educational programs. It prohibits the federal government from discriminating against a person on the basis that he believes or acts in keeping with his belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. Passing FADA means defending the existence and availability of traditional, religious schools—and their principled, well-educated students.
Religious education traces its roots back to early American churches, where congregants learned to read as a way to study the Bible. The tradition continues today, as tens of thousands of religious schools open their doors for the 2015-2016 school season.
Evangelical Christian, Catholic, Muslim, and Jewish churches, mosques, synagogues, schools, colleges, and universities instill knowledge and develop wisdom through the study of mathematics, English, science, history and theology that their students might become principled leaders in their communities.
These educational institutions were tax exempt, allowing them to invest in improving and expanding educational opportunities rather than paying taxes.
Until now.
When same-sex marriage became a constitutional right, religious schools defining marriage as one man united to one woman became liable for tax penalization and discrimination lawsuits, costing families fewer education options or tuition hikes.
Many argue that tax penalization is unlikely. They defer to IRS commissioner John Koskinen. During a Senate question and answer session Commissioner Koskinen explained that if the IRS penalized Christian organizations, then “[t]he public would have plenty of notice and plenty of opportunity to comment,” but “that’s not going to happen in the next two and a half years.”
Legal analysts also explain that there is little legal standing for discrimination lawsuits. They argue that Bob Jones University is the only religious educational institution to have lost its tax exempt status, which only happened because Bob Jones prohibited interracial marriage—a violation of “an established public policy.” Analysts contend that same-sex marriage does not rise to the level of “an established public policy,” therefore it would have little legal standing for a lawsuit.
As assuring as the promises of an IRS commissioner may be, they are not law. Nor are they supported by a steady track record of IRS honesty.
Though the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman is not yet a violation of established public policy, a few supportive court cases could provide the lacking case law, and same-sex advocates could approach Congress directly.
When asked whether religious protections extended to Christian schools, Minority Whip Illinois Senator Dick Durbin told the Weekly Standard that he would have to “think long and hard” about it. Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland agreed that he’s also “not sure how it applies to Christian-run schools.”
Dubious IRS promises and unsure congressmen make for staunch protection of religious education, indeed.
