Seventh-day Adventist leaders joined with United States Senators John Kerry and Rick Santorum at a June 26 press conference to announce the introduction of the Workplace Religious Freedom Act (WRFA) of 2002.

James Standish, director of legislative affairs for the Adventist Church, spoke at the Capitol Hill event, saying the church is “very excited about the progress of WRFA and the publicity it is receiving. WRFA is important to Adventists because religious freedom means freedom to live our lives in accordance with God’s plan. WRFA ensures Adventists in the workplace of their right to practice their faith.”

Senator Kerry began the press conference by emphasizing that “it should be clear in our laws that no worker should ever have to choose between keeping a job and keeping faith with their cherished religious beliefs.” Senator Santorum joined Kerry, explaining that WRFA only asks for reasonable accommodation, but it creates an incentive for employers to accommodate the spiritual life of Americans.

Also present at the press conference was Austin Beadle, an Adventist, who told the media how he lost his job because his employer refused to accommodate his Sabbath observance.

A broad coalition of Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh organizations have joined together in support of WRFA. While civil rights laws require employers to attempt to accommodate their employee’s faiths, the Supreme Court has interpreted this requirement to impose a very low level of responsibility on employers. WRFA strengthens the protection afforded people of faith in the workplace by requiring employers to take reasonable steps to accommodate the sincerely held religious beliefs of their employees, unless such accommodation would require significant difficulty or expense to their businesses.

“Seventh-day Adventists are called by God to be the foremost advocates of religious freedom,” says Standish. “Unless Adventists from all walks join this effort, we will never fully fill the role that God intends for this church.”

For more information about WFRA, go to www.ola.adventist.org.