Last Thursday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court handed down a significant decision regarding how the law should treat religious charitable organizations. By a 4-3 vote, it determined that certain Roman Catholic charities do not get an exemption from paying Wisconsin’s unemployment tax. In doing so, the justices showcased a growing problem on the part of an increasingly secular society that misunderstands Christianity.
Four charities operating under the Catholic Charities Bureau based in Superior, Wisconsin, sought the exemption. They focus on helping those with mental or health disabilities and those in poverty, providing various means to help with training, job placement, and other services. By Wisconsin law, organizations run by religious groups and whose primary purpose is religious receive the exemption from paying into the system.
The majority reasoned that, though run by the Catholic Church, these charities are not operated “primarily for religious purposes.” They defined a primary religious purpose to encompass either acts of worship, evangelization, or theologically oriented education. Regarding these charities’ work, they did not include any liturgical actions, proselyting, or religious instruction. Relatedly, non-religious organizations can and do give the same kind of help to those with disabilities or struggling with poverty. The Catholic Church had religious intentions for the work. But they were indirect or not “primary” in the sense Wisconsin law meant, according to the court.
Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote one of the dissents. She opened with the famous quote from Matthew 22:21: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” She argued that the majority had misread the law, violated the religion clauses of the First Amendment, and thereby not rendered to God what statutorily was the Catholic Church’s legal right.
But her dissent would better have started by quoting the first part of James 1:27: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction.” Christianity is grounded on faith in the work of God to save human beings from sin and death in Jesus Christ. But God then calls on us to love our neighbor with special admonition to care for persons vulnerable to oppression and to basic needs they cannot meet without aid. When Christians care for the poor, the orphan, and the weak, they do so “primarily for religious purposes.”
On this point, Bradley herself made an error. She argued that the majority’s reasoning betrayed a bias in favor of Protestantism over and against Roman Catholicism and other, non-Christian religions. She said including some element of religious instruction or evangelization was making Protestant views on the relationship of faith and charity the standard for all religious groups.
However, she need not have made that move to win her point. Some differences exist between Protestants and Catholics on the nature and place of good works about salvation. The Reformation in part concerned these matters, and the disagreement continues to this day.
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But while there might be a distinction on the exact role works play, there is no disagreement on the necessity of good works in the Christian life. Nor is there a clear difference between parts of Christianity on the fundamental point — whether acts of charity in and of themselves are done primarily for religious reasons. They are by all Christian accounts done to serve God through loving those created in His image.
The majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court got this decision wrong. Given the First Amendment implications, the Supreme Court of the United States might, and really should, take up the case for another judicial look. Churches and other religious groups must receive statutory and constitutional protection on the grounds of their faith, including how they understand their acts to live out that faith. That is an essential part of the religious liberty our Constitution protects and that we as a society should cherish.
Adam Carrington is an associate professor of politics at Hillsdale College.
