The evangelical group is being barred from meeting in a public housing development, Fox News reports.

Government organizations can refuse to allow outside groups to meet on government property, of course. But they get on thin ice when they allow some groups, but not others, to meet. For example, a school district that said it would allow evangelicals but not Christian Scientists to rent space on Sundays would be begging for a lawsuit. Picking one denomination over another raises all kinds of establishment clause concerns.

Government can also get into trouble if it favors irreligion over religion.

The 1984 Equal Access Act requires schools to provide equal access to religious and non-religious clubs. Schools don’t have to allow after school clubs. But if they allow Future Farmers to meet on school property, they’re required to give equal access to Future Preachers or Future American Atheist Activists.

I’m not aware of an Equal Access Act pertaining specifically to public housing but the Supreme Court has held that government can neither promote religion nor prohibit religious practice.

If the Housing authority is allowing all groups except religious groups to meet in their complex, then they’ll have a lot of explaining to do…

This entry was posted on Monday, June 8th, 2009 at 1:27 pm and is filed under Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.