Glossary

Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA)

Visit  https://www.ahsaa.com/

American Rescue Plan (ARP)

Visit  https://www.whitehouse.gov/american-rescue-plan/

Blaine Amendments

The Blaine amendments—a series of amendments to state constitutions in the late 19th century—aimed to prevent the use of public funds to support parochial schools.

Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

Visit  https://www.cms.gov/

Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy (CRCD)

Visit  www.crcd.net

Christian/Religious Nationalism

The idea that the United States was established as an explicitly Christian nation, and the close relationship between Christianity and the state must be protected—and in many respects restored—in order for the United States to fulfill its God-given destiny.

Civil Rights Movement

The civil rights movement  was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United States.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing.

Conscience Clauses

Legal clauses attached to laws in some parts of the United States and other countries which permit pharmacists, physicians, and/or other providers of health care not to provide certain medical services for reasons of religion or conscience. It can also involve parents withholding consenting for particular treatments for their children.

Critical Race Theory (CRT)

A cross-disciplinary examination, by social and  civil-rights scholars and activists, of how  laws, social and political movements, and media shape, and are shaped by,  social conceptions of  race and ethnicity. Goals include challenging all mainstream and “alternative” views of  racism and  racial justice, including conservative,  liberal, and  progressive.

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

Signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996. It banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage by limiting the definition of marriage to the union of one man and one woman, and it further allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted under the laws of other states.

Do No Harm Act

The Do No Harm Act simply provides that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)  cannot be used to limit access to health care, deny services supported by taxpayer dollars, or undermine the Civil Rights Act or other anti-discrimination protections.

Equality Act

A bill in the United States Congress, that, if passed, would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, federally funded programs, credit, and jury service.

Establishment Clause

In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment’s  Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion.

Fairness for All Act

A proposed piece of legislation that would update federal civil rights law to require fair treatment of gay and transgender Americans in housing, hiring and many other areas of public life. It would also expand existing faith-based exemptions to anti-discrimination law to ensure that religiously affiliated schools, adoption agencies and other organizations could continue to operate according to their beliefs about sexuality and marriage.

Faith & Freedom Coalition

Visit  ffcoalition.com

Free Exercise Clause

The clause in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibiting Congress from making any law prohibiting the free exercise of religion.

Health and Human Services (HHS)

Visit  hhs.gov

House Bill 2495

The bill was signed into law in July 2022 and is in effect. The law requires schools to get parental approval to teach books or other material that make references to sex.

House Bill 542 (New Hampshire)

Provides that, during a state of emergency, the state shall permit religious organizations to operate to the same degree as other organizations that provide essential services or are vital to public health and welfare.

International Religious Freedom Act of 1998

The Act was passed to promote  religious freedom as a foreign policy of the United States, to promote greater religious freedom in countries which engage in or tolerate violations of religious freedom, and to advocate on the behalf of individuals persecuted for their religious beliefs and activities in foreign countries. The Act was signed into law by  President  Bill Clinton on October 27, 1998.

Kansas Senate Bill 446

Allows restricted driver’s license holders beginning at age 15 to drive to and from religious activities held by any religious organization and providing for the electronic renewal of nondriver’s identification card.

Ministerial Exception

The ministerial exception furthers the purposes of the First Amendment free exercise and establishment clauses by barring legal claims against church bodies by their employees who carry out religious functions.

National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces (NCMAF)

Connects member faith groups with military and VA chaplaincies and celebrates the religious diversity of the United States of America.

National Religious Freedom Day

The day is observed on January 16 to promote the message of peace and acceptance. The day is to highlight the fact that everyone has a right to their own religious beliefs. People can go and worship in their churches, mosques, and even mandirs freely because it is their human right.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Visit  https://www.osha.gov/

Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)

The Act was passed by the United States Congress in 1993 to prohibit the federal government from burdening a person’s free exercise of religion.

Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA)

The land use provisions of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000cc, et seq., protect individuals, houses of worship, and other religious institutions from discrimination in zoning and landmarking laws (for information on RLUIPA’s institutionalized persons provisions, please refer to the Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section).

Religious Liberty Protection Act of 1999

Prohibits a government (defined as a State, an entity created under State authority, the United States, an instrumentality or official of the United States, or any person acting under color of State or Federal law) from substantially burdening a person’s religious exercise: (1) in a government-operated program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance; or (2) in any case in which the burden affects, or in which removal of the burden would affect, international or interstate commerce or commerce with Indian tribes. Allows a substantial burden if the government demonstrates that it is the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling governmental interest.

Respect for Marriage Act

Repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), requires the U.S. federal government and all U.S. states and territories to recognize the validity of same-sex and interracial civil marriages in the United States, and protects religious liberty.

Salvation Army

The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.

South Carolina House Bill 3105

Forbids the government, including courts, from imposing any “monetary fine, fee, penalty, damage award, or injunction” against a religious organization in connection with the organization’s religious activities.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)

USCIRF monitors the universal right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) abroad; makes policy recommendations to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress; and tracks the implementation of these recommendations.

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2022

The bill would reauthorize the independent, bipartisan United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for two years, past its current expiration of September 2022.

United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Visit  sec.gov