Fired for being Catholic

[1holycatholic]

Fired for being Catholic
Four teachers and seven other employees – most of them\Catholics – have been fired by Crossroads Christian Schools in Corona for not adhering to the strict evangelical Protestant doctrinal positions of the school, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.

“Most of the fired employees belong to the Catholic Church, which has key teachings that conflict with those of the conservative evangelical Crossroads Christian Schools and the adjacent Crossroads Christian Church, which with about 8,000 members is among the Inland area’s largest churches,” the Press-Enterprise reported.

“Crossroads is not anti-Catholic, said the Rev. Chuck Booher, senior pastor of the church,” according to the Press-Enterprise’s account of the firings. “But some fundamental Catholic beliefs and practices – such as praying to saints and the belief that the wine and wafer in communion become Christ’s blood and body – are not in line with Crossroads’ teachings, he said.”
…

 

[Dale_M]

This much should make sense to supporters of Catholic education:
Press-Enterprise article:

Crossroads’ religious-belief requirement is not surprising, said Kurt Fredrickson, associate dean of Fuller Theological Seminary, an evangelical institution in Pasadena. Many conservative evangelical schools see a strong need to protect children from outside cultural influences, he said.

“There’s a circle-the-wagons idea that what is taught at school should not contradict what is taught at home,” Fredrickson said.

pe.com/localnews/corona/stories/PE_News_Local_D_crossroads10.2bd468a.html

But was the firing legal? It seems to be a disputed issue.
Press-Enterprise article:

Experts disagree on whether the dismissals were legal. Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Irvine’s law school, said federal and state law prohibit religious-belief requirements in schools, even if, as at Crossroads, religion is infused throughout the entire curricula. The only exception is religious-education classes.

Press-Enterprise article:

But Thomas Cathey, director of legal/legislative issues for the Colorado-based Association of Christian Schools International, to which Crossroads belongs, said the school falls under a religious-institution exemption in federal law and has a right to hire and fire employees whose religious beliefs aren’t in sync with its own.

A complicating factor is that the employees signed a statement of faith when hired. However, last year, the school became closer to its parent church and tightened up its religious expectations. These include requiring that employees attend a “Bible-believing church” and be (or have been) baptized by full immersion.

 

[smithm29]

If the firing wasn’t legal, it should have been. The school should absolutely have the right to employ only people who match their belief systems. I had to turn down a job once at a Baptist college and several volunteer opportunities because I could not sign the statement of faith. They were a boilerplate protestant statements affirming belief in the bible as the only source for faith, etc…

I would hope these Catholics did not sign something similar.

 

[mlldrl]

I know that I’d rather all of the teachers at our parish school be faithful Catholics so I understand the school’s desire. I suppose what troubles me is why the school hired them in the first place? If the teachers faith wasn’t a problem then why now?

M

 

[smithm29]

I’d imagine there was fault on both sides there. I don’t know of a protestant statement of faith that should be acceptable to a practicing Catholic. Effectively, when they signed that statement, they were saying they agreed with the school’s philosophical beliefs. Eventually, maybe they found out that it wasn’t true?

 

[smithm29]

I stand corrected. There’s only one “difficult” part of their statement of faith, and that depends on how you read it. Does it mean that the Bible is God’s entire word (to the exclusion of tradition) or does it mean that all of the Bible is God’s word (as in, it is inerrant)? “We Believe the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God in its entirety and that it does not contradict itself. It is our guide. (2 Timothy 3:15; 2 Peter 1:21).” There’s a part about how salvation can’t be earned, but that’s really semantics and posturing. We know that we can’t earn salvation, but we must still perform good works to receive it.

crossroadsschool.org/about/faith.asp

The philosophy is a little different. It expressly denies tradition, but I don’t know that the teachers had to sign or agree to it. crossroadsschool.org/about/philosophy.asp

While I still think they should have the right to employ who they want, they may actually be in some legal trouble because it would be difficult to say that, as Catholics, the teachers couldn’t abide by that statement of faith.

 

[1holycatholic]

I know that I’d rather all of the teachers at our parish school be faithful Catholics so I understand the school’s desire. I suppose what troubles me is why the school hired them in the first place? If the teachers faith wasn’t a problem then why now?

M

The collapse of evangelical Protestantism seems to have them worried.

 

[1holycatholic]

I stand corrected. There’s only one “difficult” part of their statement of faith, and that depends on how you read it. Does it mean that the Bible is God’s entire word (to the exclusion of tradition) or does it mean that all of the Bible is God’s word (as in, it is inerrant)? “We Believe the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God in its entirety and that it does not contradict itself. It is our guide. (2 Timothy 3:15; 2 Peter 1:21).” There’s a part about how salvation can’t be earned, but that’s really semantics and posturing. We know that we can’t earn salvation, but we must still perform good works to receive it.

crossroadsschool.org/about/faith.asp

The philosophy is a little different. It expressly denies tradition, but I don’t know that the teachers had to sign or agree to it. crossroadsschool.org/about/philosophy.asp

While I still think they should have the right to employ who they want, they may actually be in some legal trouble because it would be difficult to say that, as Catholics, the teachers couldn’t abide by that statement of faith.

I couldn’t get past the sloppy wording in first article. There is a big difference between persons and personalities. God is not a cosmic Sybil.

 

[Dale_M]

The collapse of evangelical Protestantism seems to have them worried.

hmmm… its a speculative article, but back in the 1990s I heard Evangelicals express similar concerns.

God is not a cosmic Sybil.

Sybil?! Wow, does that take me down memory lane. Are people still reading that book?
(I know, I know… its off-topic, but I haven’t heard a reference to Sybil in ages.)

I dunno… I guess I wouldn’t expect carefully crafted theological distinction on a school website. Someone was sloppy when they wrote the text, or perhaps, no one cares about theology there.

Edit:
The statement of faith seems identical to the one on the website of the school’s parent church.
crossroadschurch.com/aboutus/statement.asp

 

[Katrina5]

I didn’t know evangelical protestantism was in danger of collapse.

As for their “statement of faith”, they do seem to have a circle the wagons mentality.
Remember, many evangelical churches were founded on not being “doctrinal” and “legalistic” especially if they are “charismatic.”

They have no Authority except the Bible, and this has gotten them into hot water time and time again.

Each little church has its own little ‘pope’ and when they disagree, they break off, usually have a ‘rebound’ in starting their new church where they go opposite of the church they broke from.

Then they try to “get back to the Bible” and this never works, since it is only one leg of the three legged stool we have-- Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium.

Why would any Catholic teacher want to tread into this territory? We need Catholic teachers in our Catholic schools.

A worse scenario happened near our home town when a Bible-believing fundamentalist was teaching in a Catholic school.

The kids were going home and telling their parents they were going to hell, and that they weren’t “real Christians.”

She didn’t get fired, but the parents-- yes the PARENTS!!!-- made her uncomfortable and she left and tried to start her own school, but it didn’t work out.

 

[The_Old_Medic]

If you support the teachers in this situation, then you also support actively homosexuals being hired to teach in Roman Catholic Schools; people that reject the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church being hired and retained by Catholic Schools, etc.

You can not have it both ways. Either a church operated school has the absolute right to require that its staff follow its teachings, or it does not.

 

[gamewell45]

If the firing wasn’t legal, it should have been. The school should absolutely have the right to employ only people who match their belief systems. I had to turn down a job once at a Baptist college and several volunteer opportunities because I could not sign the statement of faith. They were a boilerplate protestant statements affirming belief in the bible as the only source for faith, etc…

I would hope these Catholics did not sign something similar.

I concur with you.

Its no different then rules laid down by many private schools (both religious/non-religious) where you have to sign an agreement in regards to the condtions of employment.