Religion · Statewide · CO · August 15, 2026
Amicus Briefs: Colorado Preschool Program Devalues Catholic School's Faith Claim
Juicy Ecumenism's Rick Plasterer continues a multi-part analysis of St. Mary Parish v. Roy, a case the U.S. Supreme Court will hear this coming term after Colorado's Department of Early Childhood denied Universal Pre-School Program funds to St. Mary Catholic Virtue School. This installment focuses on amicus briefs filed by University of Virginia law professor Douglas Laycock, the Christian Legal Society, and Liberty Counsel. The briefs argue Colorado created a 'catch-all' exemption category favoring 'gender non-conforming children,' the 'LGBTQ community,' and 'underserved children of color' — according to the Department director's own court testimony — while refusing a comparable exemption request from the Catholic school. The amici contend this violates the general-applicability principle from Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah (1993) and the individualized-exemption doctrine reaffirmed in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia (2021), which bars government from granting secular exemptions while denying religious ones. No ruling has been issued; this is ongoing legal commentary ahead of oral argument.
Source: Juicy Ecumenism
Why Bible-Believing Christians Should Care
This case tests whether states can build 'diversity' exemption categories into public benefit programs that quietly exclude religious institutions on the same footing as secular ones. Scripture commands impartial judgment, and the amici's argument — that Colorado devalues religious identity by treating it as less worthy of protection than other 'specific communities' — echoes that principle in constitutional terms. Bible-believing Christians should watch this case closely: a ruling against St. Mary Parish would reinforce the idea, traced to Everson-era separationism, that religious schools may be treated as second-class participants in public life even when comparable secular exemptions are freely granted.
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. — Leviticus 19:15
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From the book
The primary weapon here is the weaponization of civil rights language. Activists hold the government to its stated commitment to equal protection, then redefine equality, meaning equal treatment under law, as equity, meaning equal outcomes. By holding the agency to the new definition they turn the machinery of justice into an engine of social engineering. The Title IX rulemaking examined in Chapter 8d is the clearest recent example of the full sequence.
— Chapter 20, “The Anatomy of Capture”
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