According to a newly released memorandum from the United States Office of Personnel Management, government employees do not lose their First Amendment rights when they begin their work for Uncle Sam each day.
Scott Kupor, who serves as director of the agency, offered long overdue clarity in the document, especially given some of the hostility that Christians have encountered on the job during the previous administration.
“The Federal workforce should be a welcoming place for Federal employees who practice a religious faith,” wrote Director Kupor. “Allowing religious discrimination in the Federal workplace violates the law. It also threatens to adversely impact recruitment and retention of highly-qualified employees of faith.”
In this instance, it’s a good thing when the government unbridles speech and acknowledges the freedoms so many have fought for and even died to protect.
Citing both the United States Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the guidelines are not the product of whim but the wisdom and precedent of centuries of well-established religious liberty. The memo is practical. It includes examples of what types of religious expression are protected.
For example, government employees are permitted to display or wear religiously themed items, including a cross, hang up posters with Scripture verses, or possess and read their Bible. Christmas displays are allowed – as are group celebrations of the reason for the season.
Constitutionally protected free speech includes talking and even debating matters of faith with co-workers. Of course, discretion and wisdom demand this be done tactfully and respectfully. But the government doesn’t have the right to silence its citizens. It certainly doesn’t have the right to penalize or criminalize religious expression. It’s not a crime to invite a coworker to church or a Bible study.
The memo makes clear that government should make every effort to accommodate an employee’s religious practices. This doesn’t mean they get a free pass to ignore their job responsibilities or unfairly burden other teammates with the work they’re paid to do. Instead, it demands a spirit of reasonableness and common sense.
In fact, this memorandum might be called something of a manifesto of sensibility. It notes that employees are not to ignore their work – but they also don’t have to ignore or hide their faith.
After all, not only was our nation created by people for whom faith was a prominent component of their lives – but even today, a significant percentage of the nearly three million government workers who are doing the most good are motivated by their love of the Lord and Christianity’s command to selflessly serve their neighbor.
Christians don’t just go to church on Sunday. Faith-based organizations serve millions of people every single day. Nearly twenty percent of hospitals in the United States were founded and are managed by those with religious associations. These entities and individuals see their jobs as a calling not simply a career. Why would anyone want to stifle or suppress the enthusiasm and energy behind these endeavors?
This memo openly and unapologetically acknowledges the indispensable contributions people of faith have made and continue to make to the country.
Thank you, Director Scott Kupor, for clarifying and codifying the constitutionally protected religious rights of government employees.