Question 1

Can our church lose its tax-exempt status for preaching on marriage?

Accepted Answer

Preaching what the Bible teaches about marriage generally does not put a church's tax exemption at risk. In the United States, the restrictions on exempt churches generally concern intervening in political campaigns for or against candidates, not teaching doctrine from the pulpit. You can keep preaching, and you can put your definitions in writing so the threat has nothing to grab.

Question 2

Can our church require members to sign a statement of faith?

Accepted Answer

Generally, yes. A church is a voluntary religious association, and in the United States civil courts are usually reluctant to second-guess who a congregation receives into membership or what it asks members to affirm. The work is not winning permission. The work is writing the statement clearly, putting the membership process in your bylaws, and applying it the same way to everyone.

Question 3

Can our church be forced to let a man use the women's restroom?

Accepted Answer

In most of the United States a house of worship is generally not treated the same as a business under public accommodation law, and a church that has written a clear facilities policy is on far firmer ground than one that has not. You can adopt a policy that assigns restrooms by sex, ties it to your statement of faith, and applies it to every use of the building. Do that now, in calm weather, rather than in the middle of a confrontation.

Question 4

Can a public school make my child read a book with sexual content for class?

Accepted Answer

You can ask, in writing, for the exact title and the passages at issue, and you can request an alternative assignment on religious grounds. Most districts have a written policy for parent objections to instructional material and an appeal path to the board. Put the request on paper, name the conviction plainly, and ask who decides and by when.

Question 5

What do we do when protesters disrupt our worship service?

Accepted Answer

Keep worshipping. Have one designated man walk over, speak quietly, and ask the protesters to leave; if they refuse, ushers can call local law enforcement while the service continues. The one thing you must not give them is the picture they came for — a church member shouting, shoving, or snatching a phone.

Question 6

Can a church discipline a member without being sued?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in most cases. Churches in the United States generally have broad legal room to discipline a member who has voluntarily joined and agreed to the church's process, and civil courts generally decline to sit in judgment on internal religious membership decisions. Your protection comes from following your own written procedure exactly, keeping the matter inside the congregation, and saying only what you can prove. The threat of a suit is not a suit.

Question 7

Can a grandparent lose visitation for sharing the faith with a grandchild?

Accepted Answer

You generally cannot be barred from believing or speaking as a Christian around your grandchild by a parent's warning alone. A restriction on visitation takes a court order, and courts in most states start from the presumption that a fit parent's decisions about religious upbringing get deference, while generally declining to police a grandparent's ordinary faith talk absent evidence of real harm to the child. Ask for the request in writing, honor the parents' authority over instruction and church attendance, and refuse to pretend you believe nothing.

Question 8

Do we have to rent our church building to a group whose event we disagree with?

Accepted Answer

You can generally say no, and the cleanest way to say it is through a written facility use policy that ties building use to what your church teaches. Churches in the United States have broad protection for religious decisions about their own property, but that protection is strongest where the church has not turned the building into a rental hall open to all comers. Get the request in writing, get your policy in writing, and answer from the policy rather than from the argument.

Question 9

Can the county refuse to open its public meetings with prayer?

Accepted Answer

Generally yes, a county board can stop opening its meetings with prayer, because the board controls its own agenda. But it is almost never required to stop. Legislative invocations before county commissions have long been treated as lawful in American practice, and a board that quits usually does so because someone sent a letter, not because a court ordered it. Ask for the decision in writing and ask what the county attorney actually advised.

Question 10

Can a doctor give my teenager puberty blockers without my consent?

Accepted Answer

Across most of the country a minor generally cannot receive ongoing medical treatment without a parent's consent, and a growing number of states now restrict or prohibit puberty blockers for minors outright. You can put a written notice to the clinic withdrawing consent, request your child's full medical record, and ask them to state in writing the authority they claim for treating a minor without a parent. The details differ sharply by state, so ask for yours before you argue.

Question 11

Can a Christian graphic designer decline to make a pride logo?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in most cases you can decline a specific project without refusing the customer. The line courts and clients both understand is between declining a message and declining a person, so say no to the artwork and yes to the client's other work. Put your standard in writing before the next request arrives, answer in writing, and check how your state's public accommodation law treats custom creative work.

Question 12

Can Child Protective Services investigate me for refusing to affirm my child's gender identity?

Accepted Answer

A report is not a finding, and a screening call is not a case. In most states child welfare law is written around serious physical harm, sexual abuse, and failure to provide food, shelter, or medical care, not around a parent's disagreement with a school or a clinician about names and pronouns. You can ask for the allegation in writing, decline to guess at answers, and get a family-law or religious-liberty attorney involved before the second contact.

Question 13

Can a public school punish my child for wearing a Christian t-shirt?

Accepted Answer

A public school generally cannot punish a student for wearing a shirt with a Christian message when shirts with other messages are allowed. Neutral dress codes apply to everyone, but singling out religious content is viewpoint discrimination, and the school has to point to the written rule your child actually broke. Ask for the dress code in writing, ask which provision was violated, and ask whether other message shirts are treated the same way.

Question 14

Can I lose custody for taking my children to church?

Accepted Answer

Taking your children to church is ordinary parenting, not misconduct, and in the United States custody decisions generally turn on the best interests of the child rather than on a parent's faith. Courts are usually slow to restrict religious practice unless someone shows real, specific harm to the child. A co-parent's threat is not a court order, so get the demand in writing, read your existing parenting plan, and ask what harm is actually being alleged.

Question 15

Can the state require my homeschool to be inspected or approved?

Accepted Answer

In general, home education is legal in every state, but what the state may require of you varies a great deal from one state to the next. Most states ask for something on paper — a notice, a record, sometimes an annual assessment — while an actual in-home inspection is an uncommon requirement. Ask for the demand in writing, ask which specific rule it rests on, and find out what your state actually requires before you agree to anything.

Question 16

Can a hospital keep me from my adult child's bedside because of my beliefs?

Accepted Answer

In the United States an adult patient generally decides who may visit, and a hospital generally cannot bar a visitor because of that visitor's religion. So the first question is not whether you are welcome but who actually made the decision: your adult child, or a staff member acting on your child's behalf. Ask for the visitation policy in writing, ask for the reason for the restriction in writing, and take it to the patient advocate the same day.

Question 17

Can a foster care agency reject us because of our Christian beliefs about marriage?

Accepted Answer

You can ask for the reason in writing and make the agency name the policy it is applying and the part of your file that fails it. Belief alone is generally a thin basis for denial, and in most states a licensing decision comes with a grievance or appeal process you can use. You can also ask whether the agency is a state office or a private contractor, because that often changes what rules bind it.

Question 18

Do I have the right to speak at a city council meeting against a policy I oppose?

Accepted Answer

In most places you can speak. Public bodies in many states must hold open meetings and provide a public comment period, and where comment is allowed the council generally cannot pick and choose based on your viewpoint. Get the written comment policy from the clerk, sign up by the stated deadline, submit your remarks in writing for the record, and say your piece inside the time limit.

Question 19

Can a public university deny recognition to our Christian student group?

Accepted Answer

A public university generally cannot deny recognition to a student group simply because the group is religious or because its beliefs are unpopular. If the school opens its recognition process to other student organizations, religious groups generally get the same access on the same terms. Ask for the denial in writing, ask which written policy you failed, and appeal in writing through the school's own process.

Question 20

Can a school board stop me from quoting the Bible during public comment?

Accepted Answer

In most cases a school board can regulate how long you speak and whether your remarks are on topic, but it generally cannot silence you only because your words come from the Bible. Public comment at a government body is usually treated as a limited forum, and rules there generally have to apply to everyone regardless of viewpoint. Ask for the written policy, speak within the time and topic limits, and quote the verse.

What do I do when…

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