Free to Serve: Protecting The Religious Freedom Of Faithbased Organizations - Softcover

Monsma, Stephen V.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1587433737 ISBN 13: 9781587433733

Publisher: Brazos Press, 2015

Synopsis

What do Hobby Lobby, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Wheaton College, World Vision, the Little Sisters of the Poor, and the University of Notre Dame have in common? All are faith-based organizations that have faced pressure to act in ways contrary to their religious beliefs. In this book, two policy experts show how faith-based groups--those active in the educational, healthcare, international aid and development, and social service fields--can defend their ability to follow their religiously based beliefs without having to jettison the very faith and faith-based practices that led them to provide services to those in need. They present a pluralist vision for religious freedom for faith-based organizations of all religious traditions. The book includes case studies that document the challenges faith-based organizations face to freely follow the practices of their religious traditions and analyzes these threats as originating in a common, yet erroneous, set of assumptions and attitudes prevalent in American society. The book also includes responses by diverse voices--an Orthodox Jew, a Roman Catholic, two evangelicals, two Islamic leaders, and an unbeliever who is a religious-freedom advocate--underscoring the importance of religious freedom for faith-based organizations.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Protecting the Religious Freedom of Faith-Based Organizations

Faith-based organizations often face pressure to act in ways contrary to their religious beliefs. Free to Serve puts forth a vision for religious freedom for faith-based organizations of all religious traditions. The book also includes responses by diverse voices--an Orthodox Jew, a Roman Catholic, two evangelicals, two Islamic leaders, and an unbeliever who is a religious-freedom advocate--underscoring the importance of religious freedom for faith-based organizations.

"This book explains how religious institutions caring for our communities risk losing their character as faith-based organizations. We have to protect the rights of everyone in our society if we are to protect the rights of anyone. An important book for our times."
--Richard Stearns, president, World Vision US; author of The Hole in Our Gospel and Unfinished

"The next decade may very well see more ferocious--and hugely important--battles over religious freedom than at any time in recent years. A must-read for anyone interested in preserving our country's historic stance on religious freedom."
--Ronald J. Sider, Palmer Seminary, Eastern University

"Monsma and Carlson-Thies present a timely and compelling case for how the United States can navigate the current changes to social norms by proposing that society value and give equal credence to the ideas of all religions and the nonreligious alike."
--Shirley V. Hoogstra, JD, president, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities

"Religious liberty, one of our God-given rights, stands under unprecedented assault. Free to Serve provides a clarion call and prophetic prescription for those committed to never sacrificing truth on the altar of expediency."
--Samuel Rodriguez, president, NHCLC/CONELA, Hispanic Evangelical Association

"Anyone who cares about the state of religious freedom in America should read this book."
--David Nammo, executive director and CEO, Christian Legal Society

About the Author:

Stephen V. Monsma (1936-2017; PhD, Michigan State University) was a senior research fellow at the Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin College and professor emeritus of political science at Pepperdine University. He was also a fellow at the Center for Public Justice. He served in the Michigan House of Representatives and Senate from 1974-1982, after which he worked with the Michigan Natural Resources Commission and the Michigan Department of Social Services. Monsma is the author or coauthor of numerous books including Pluralism and Freedom: Faith-Based Organizations in a Democratic Society. Stanley W. Carlson-Thies (PhD, University of Toronto) is director of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance, a division of the Center for Public Justice (CPJ), in Washington, DC. He is a senior fellow at CPJ and at the Canadian think tank Cardus. He convenes the Coalition to Preserve Religious Freedom, a multifaith alliance that advocates for the religious freedom of faith-based organizations to Congress and the federal government. Carlson-Thies served with George W. Bush's White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and served on a task force of President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He has appeared on NPR and in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Christianity Today. He has coauthored several books including The Freedom of Faith-Based Organizations to Staff on a Religious Basis.

About this edition

• Publisher: Brazos Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1587433737
• ISBN 13: 9781587433733
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208