Hobby Lobby and Religious Freedom | Martin Marty

Hobby Lobby and Religious Freedom | Martin Marty:

Can corporations have religious beliefs? The US Supreme Court has decided that they have first amendment rights as to freedom of speech, so why not as to religion? This is a reprise of the war tax debates of the Vietnam era, the birth control debates of the time since Vietnam and the Social Security debates of another time. Individuals who start companies and do well, incorporate but continue to operate as a sole proprietorship are understandably confused that their own idiosyncrasies don't translate well to the public arena.

The corporate form grants tax advantages and protection from personal liability. It is a gift from the government to the business community, and there are corresponding responsibilities. The most uncomfortable responsibility for entrepreneurs is having to act like a business instead of an extension of the entrepreneur's personality. Businesses have mission statements, not religious beliefs. Religious beliefs are personal, and the corporate form is inherently impersonal.

In United States v. Lee - 455 U.S. 252 (1982) an Old Order Amish carpenter and farmer hired others to work for him, but relied on the exemption for people like himself and did not withhold Social Security from their wages or pay the employer's share. The Supreme Court held, in part, that the exemption is for self-employed persons, and that to create the myriad of exemptions to accommodate everyone like Mr. Lee would be unworkable. It also held that it is not unconstitutional to burden religious belief for an overriding government purpose. The Hobby Lobby and Conestoga cases are even further from being personal. These current cases are asking to overturn 30 years of settled law and create a nightmare of exceptions to many government programs. Businesses seeking exemptions would certainly be job creators, for attorneys.

The current Supreme Court has shown just today in McCutcheon vs FEC that it is willing to overturn decades of settled law in favor of corporations. Today's case eliminates aggregate giving limits in an election cycle, extending Citizens United in favor of protecting corporate freedom of speech. Hobby Lobby and Conestoga may be the cases the 5-4 majority uses to extend first amendment protection for corporations into the realm of religious beliefs. That would not be good news for employees.