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Colorado's Religious Right Seeks Extra First Amendment Protections

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on March 19, 2010 - 10:07am

I always thought that the First Amendment's free exercise of religion provision provided for, you know, the free exercise of religion.  But apparently that protection is not enough for right-wing groups in Colorado who are now pushing an amendment to the state's constitution that would guarantee them some sort of vague religious liberty exemption, presumably to bolster their belief that they should not be required to comply with or recognize things like hate crimes laws, marriage equality, or anything else that does not reflect their religious views:

A coalition that includes Colorado Family Action and the Colorado Catholic Conference has taken the first step toward amending the state constitution to prohibit the government from infringing on the religious liberty of an individual or a religious organization.

"We have heard in our work in the state that many Catholics and other people of faith are growing uneasy as they sense a loss of religious freedom," said Jennifer Kraska, executive director of the Catholic Conference, the lobbying arm of the state's three Catholic dioceses.

Kraska, also a representative of a coalition called Coloradans for Liberty, said a ballot initiative to amend the constitution is being considered because of a general sense that religious freedom is eroding under governmental pressure.

Another coalition representative, Jessica Langfeldt, director of Colorado Family Action, a Focus on the Family affiliate, said taking the first step Monday — filing language with the Colorado Legislative Council — gives the coalition several weeks to determine whether its concerns are widely shared.

The ballot question asks whether the state constitution should include a section stating that government may not burden the right of a person or organization to act or to refuse to act in a manner motivated by a sincerely held religious belief unless the government has a compelling interest in infringing the act.

"People want the freedom to express their religious beliefs in all aspects of community life, not just in the privacy of their homes," Kraska said.

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We Just Can't Afford Equality

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on February 18, 2009 - 5:55pm

The legislature in Colorado is currently considering a bill (SB 88) that would add domestic partners to the list of dependents eligible for coverage under state employee group benefit plans.

Of course, Religious Right groups oppose such efforts and are running radio ads urging people to call their state Senators and tell them to vote against it. 

Here is an ad being run in the state by Focus on the Family Action and the Colorado Family Institute (which just so happens to be an organization that Focus created and which serves as one of its affiliated family policy councils) where they argue that, in these tough economic times, the state just can’t afford to be “experimenting” with equality:

According to Governor Bill Ritter’s office, Colorado must shut down two prisons, cut $225 million from school funding, and suspend property tax breaks for senior citizens just to keep our state afloat financially. And while the global economic crisis continues to take its toll, our legislature is considering a bill that would use our tax dollars to fund benefits for the same-sex partners of state employees.  We’re being told these benefits will cost over $100,000, but many fear that number has been grossly underestimated.  The city of Aurora is debating a similar policy and they estimate it will cost them just under fifty grand a year, and that is for the employees of just one city.

Coloradans can’t afford this social experiment.

Please call the Senate main office at 303 866-2316 and ask your Senator to vote “no” on SB 88.

Let them know it is not okay to use our tax dollars in such an irresponsible way.

This message brought to you by Colorado Family Action and Focus on the Family Action.

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In Colorado, Big Money on Anti-Gay Initiatives Leaves New Religious-Right Group in Wake

Submitted by Anonymous on February 12, 2007 - 5:24pm

Focus on the Family has been a key player in the passage of constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage in a number of states, but when it came to its home state of Colorado, the group (and its affiliate, Focus on the Family Action) pulled out all the stops, spending over $900,000 last year to oppose a domestic partnership initiative and pass a separate amendment banning gay marriage. Most of the money went through two groups that Focus helped to create, Coloradans for Marriage and Colorado Family Action.

Now, after the defeat of the partnerships initiative and the passage of the marriage ban, at least one of the front groups is trying to establish a permanent presence in the state as a satellite “family policy council.”

Now Colorado Family Action is getting money from other sources, said President and CEO Jim Pfaff, but he wouldn’t identify them. Organizers have formed the Colorado Family Institute, a related nonprofit that’s one of 37 state Family Policy Councils allied with Focus on the Family.

Pfaff, a former staffer at Focus, outlined an agenda that spans the familiar touchstones of the Religious Right: “protecting life from conception until natural death, protecting religious liberty, working to point out examples of judicial activism and help define the proper role of the courts, and upholding the principle that parents are the primary educators of their children.” It remains to be seen whether the group will have much of a half-life beyond the high-profile fight against domestic partnerships and the substantial financial support from Focus on the Family that went with it.

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