Preservation

Our outward behavior reflects what is on the inside - and we can take the necessary steps to make sure we are growing in the Lord and demonstrating what He is doing. 1st Peter 2 encourages us, that we should be...
12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.
13 Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme,
14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. 

We are called to be good citizens - of the kingdom of heaven and here on this earth. The Lord actually gives us the ability to determine laws that are set because we elect leaders, and should elect people who possess and/or sensitive to godly wisdom, so that laws that are consistent with the teachings of Scripture are implemented and those that do not are blocked. And, when we ourselves are placed in a position of influence, we can take advantage of that, in the power of the Spirit, and bring God's presence and principles into a situation.

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We have the capacity to walk in a way that pleases God no matter where we are, and that includes the workplace. Ephesians 5 states:
1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

Faith in the workplace has long been a source of tension, and employees in a variety of settings have found their rights to live according to their deeply-held religious beliefs curtailed.

Sharon Gustafson had a concern about that, and was in a position to do something about that.  She was named as general counsel of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, in 2019 - the first woman to serve in that position, according to a story on the Faithwire website.

The article says that Gustafson formed a workgroup to investigate instances of religious discrimination. She says, “I had never seen any case that was brought to protect somebody who was discriminated against because they had traditional religious beliefs about sexual morality,” adding, “So I started thinking ‘I wonder what other sorts of religious beliefs people may have that they think are not protected so I set up a religious discrimination workgroup.”

Even leadership of the agency was not on board with the premise of her group's work, which, in its final report, showed less emphasis on religious discrimination in light of some other forms. Some participants did not feel that the EEOC was sympathetic toward matters of religious liberty. Gustafson said, “Title 7 doesn’t permit people to require that no one disagrees with them...We all have to sometimes work with people who may not approve of our beliefs. They may not approve of our actions but as Americans, we still have an obligation, a duty to work shoulder to shoulder with each other and to do it in a non-discriminatory, non-harassing way.”

In March, Gustafson was fired by the new Administration after refusing to comply with a request for her to resign.  The workgroup's report had been removed from the EEOC website.  

The article says:

Tony Perkins, president of the Research Family Council, told CBN News “I think what is going to happen is that this will have a chilling effect upon religious expression in the workplace.”

Gustafson says her firing sends a signal to both former colleagues and the public.

“There is a chilling effect to other people at the EEOC and the word gets out, you know, to the public generally that the EEOC is not interested in these types, certain types of religious discrimination claims and that is to everybody’s loss,” she said.

EEOC commissioner Andrea Lucas calls the firing “deeply troubling” and warns that “religious liberty has become a disfavored or second-class right in many areas of our society.”

An FRC website article linked to a tweet thread from Ed Whelan of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.  He said:

"According to Gustafson letter, "no previous [EEOC] General Counsel has been fired for being appointed by the wrong political party."

He added:

Purported termination notice from White House doesn't even refer to any action by President Biden. Deputy Director of Office of Presidential Personnel uses passive voice: "your employment ... is terminated."

 An agency spokesperson told CBN News that religious liberty would continue to be a top priority.

But what will that look like, you might ask?  Because there are indications that religious freedom keeps dropping in priority.  Obviously, the age-old types of discrimination based on race and sex are rightly in place, but religious discrimination should not be subservient to say, so-called discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, even though the Supreme Court's Bostock decision threatens to make that a reality. And, recently new Secretary of State Antony Blinkin has equated so-called "reproductive" rights, i.e. abortion, with other rights, saying in a briefing that removing certain language from a human rights report is...

...one of many steps – along with revoking the Mexico City Policy, withdrawing from the Geneva Consensus Declaration, resuming support for the United Nations Population Fund – that we are taking to promote women’s health and equity at home and abroad. Because women’s rights – including sexual and reproductive rights – are human rights.

He said, "there is no hierarchy that makes some rights more important than others."

So, the right to an abortion is equated with religious freedom?  And, there are those who believe that a gay person's right to certain services, in the arena of professional services, is superior to the conscience rights of a person who declines to provide the service.  

So, in the name of religious freedom, Sharon Gustafson wanted to uphold certain rights of employees to act according to conscience.  Even her superiors did not completely buy-in to what she was trying to do. This can be an example for us to make the right choice even though it may not be the popular choice.  Her workgroup was seeking to preserve people's freedom of expression regarding their faith in the workplace, yet there were those who rejected what she was trying to do.

We can also be mindful to not be intimidated - our call is to live out the mission of Christ wherever He may call us.  And, the expression of our faith is an expression of who we are.  Now, we have to be careful in how we do that - not in a counterproductive or even harassing way, but in a way that is compassionate and honoring to the Lord. We can make sure that we take our role as representatives of God very seriously.