The Center for Public Justice’s animating framework of public justice offers something unique to the global conversation surrounding COVID-19. The virus has dramatically impacted the institutions within which we live our lives, including faith-based organizations.
For faith-based organizations to comprehensively embody their missions to the fullest in challenging times, they must consider public policy, organizational practices, and public positioning. We believe this integrative approach can provide a helpful framework for thinking and acting through complex and challenging situations as they arise, including public health crises like COVID-19.
We invite you to read some of the resources written by CPJ staff for helpful information and perspectives regarding policies written in response to COVID-19 and living out public justice during the spread of the virus.
COVID-19: Policy Responses That Empower and Protect
Faith-Based Organizations and Their Employees
Rachel Anderson and Dr. Stanley Carlson-Thies
The COVID-19 pandemic is straining every institution in American society and has likely already pushed our economy into a recession. Facing a unique public health crisis, the social safety net needs to be both adapted and fortified to help protect vulnerable households from sudden financial shocks. We encourage policymakers to craft policies that respond forthrightly to the twin health and economic crises by strengthening civil society and the social safety net, while also preserving institutional religious freedom. By strengthening faith-based organizations and their employees in the midst of this crisis, policymakers will safeguard the sacred sector as a vital part of a resilient and flourishing society.
Safeguarding the Sacred Sector During the COVID-19 Health Crisis
Rachel Anderson and Dr. Stanley Carlson-Thies
A unique public health crisis requires compassion, care, and resilience from all sectors of society. Religious communities have sprung into action, sustaining social ties in a time of social distance and caring for those most at risk of homelessness, food insecurity, and isolation. These same religious communities and faith-based institutions will need support now and as the crisis persists. As Congress and the Administration undertakes emergency measures, it should take care to safeguard the sacred sector, attending to both faith-based organizations and their employees. CPJ recommends all emergency policies do the following:
Empower faith-based organizations to contribute to the social safety net while preserving their religious freedom, enabling funds to flow to faith-based organizations without restrictions that limit their religious freedom.
Mitigate expected economic hardship for faith-based organizations as well as their employees by rapidly reimbursing employers for mandated sick and family leave payments. The unemployment insurance safety net should be expanded so that groups excluded from coverage - clergy, employees of religious organizations as well as gig-economy and contingent workers - are included.
Incentivize charitable giving in this time of economic and social crisis. Congress should enact a universal charitable deduction that gives a deduction on taxes owed to all taxpayers who contribute to the charitable sector.
The COVID-19 crisis presents our nation with not a sprint, but a marathon. Public policy responses must respond to urgent needs while protecting those institutions -- including religious communities, faith-based charities, and the family -- that help keep our society strong.
Living Out Our Public Justice Responsibilities During COVID-19
Chelsea Langston Bombino and Katie Thompson
The Center for Public Justice’s animating framework of public justice offers something unique to the global conversation surrounding COVID-19. The virus has dramatically impacted the institutionswithin which we live our lives – the institutions that make up the fabric of our daily lives. Institutions like our families, schools, hospitals, workplaces, houses of worship, museums, and our government are all impacted. The very relationships and institutions that provide meaning, livelihood, connection, and joy to our lives are disrupted and leave us collectively wondering: what’s next? This article will focus specifically on how people of faith and their institutions can rise to the challenge of loving their neighbors during this unprecedented challenge by instituting thoughtful and positive organizational practices. This will require diverse faith-based organizations to be both proactive and adaptive.