Are All Churches Free to Locate Anywhere? Let’s See

Are All Churches Free to Locate Anywhere? Let’s See

As the fight rages on, to prevent a Muslim mosque and community center within feet of the “sacred ground” where the World Trade Center stood before a terrorist attack, one of the official excuses for not intervening is that,”They have the right to put a place of worship anywhere they want; this is America with separation of church and state.” Basically, the government’s official stance is that their hands are tied.

Is this accurate? Are churches, parochial schools even Bible studies allowed to build “wherever they want”?

Well, according to the Department of Justice/DOJ Web site:

The right to build, buy, or lease a place to assemble for worship is an indispensable part of religious freedom. For many faith groups, the same is true of schools for religious instruction. Religious groups simply cannot exercise their faiths without facilities adequate for their needs.

The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) was passed in 2000 because there were so many churches having problems obtaining permission to build, convert or enlarge their meeting places. Aside: I find it odd that this act included prisons and halfway houses as well as religious buildings, but I digress. When the legislation was passed, Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute said, “This is the most powerful, far-reaching federal civil rights statute impacting churches that has ever been enacted in history.” Further, “The number one curtailment for church growth in the United States today, according to pastors, is not lack of members or lack of money. It’s local governments saying `We don’t want you.’”

You would think a piece of legislation would solve all the problems, right?

No, it’s not that easy, there are still enough cases in litigation that there is a non profit organization, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, solely devoted to defending churches against government prohibitions.

One lawyer has made a specialty of defending churches against discrimination and he is kept very busy! Please indulge me and read a little, about a select few cases: