Religious Freedom

  SCORE is focused on the religious freedom of all people and in particular of the Sikh community in the U.S., and around the globe. SCORE is a prominent member of a coalition working to influence the U.S. congress on the religious freedom issues.

SCORE has undertaken many activities towards achieving greater religious freedom for the religious minorities in general and Sikhs in specific. SCORE has been one of the original supporters of Workforce Religious Freedom Bill. It has been part of this legislative initiative since its beginning in 1997. This Act benefits more than 500,000 American Sikhs.

  Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 2003

  The bill (s. 2572), co-sponsored by Sens. Rick Santorum and John Kerry, was originally introduced in May 2002, by a bipartisan coalition of religious liberty advocates including: Senators such as Sam Brownback, Hillary Clinton, Joseph Lieberman, Rick Santorum, Gordon Smith and Charles Schumer. WRFA is also backed by a diverse coalition of religious groups, ranging from the Southern Baptist Convention to the American Jewish Committee and encompassing the Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh religious communities. SCORE has been addressing the issue of religious freedom issues since 1997 and has partnered with coalition of groups and policy leaders.

WRFA promotes a fundamental principle-that no employee should arbitrarily be forced to choose between obedience to his or her faith and keeping a job. In 1972, the U.S. Congress amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 so at to require that employers reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious practice or observance unless to do so would impose an undue hardship on the employer. This standard, although appropriate on its face, has been interpreted by the courts in a fashion that places little restraint on an employer’s ability to refuse to provide religious accommodation. WRFA will restore to the religious accommodation provision the weight that Congress originally intended.

It is discrimination when an employer refuses to allow a Sikh man to wear a turban while on the job simply because this is not the standard uniform worn by employees.
WRFA is a countermeasure against religious discrimination at the workplace, a challenge to thousands of Sikh Americans across the nation who are threatened, in large part, because of their clothing. Sikhs wear turbans and allow their body hair to grow uncut. In recent years, Sikh Americans have experienced negative profiling, discrimination and verbal and physical assault because of the faulty perception of a connection between them and anti-American extremists.

This bill is very important for the Sikh community. According to Dr Rajwant Singh Chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education, “It is a fundamental right of all citizens to have freedom of religion even at the work place. Sikhs have contributed greatly in America and this freedom is very important for them. We support this Act because this enhances the freedom of religion for Sikhs. This bill will ensure that Sikhs can practice their religion freely without having to sacrifice their beliefs.”
While there are no doubts, many employers who try to find ways to respect the religious practices of their employees, the greatest obstacle that many Sikh Americans face on a day to day basis to their ability to adhere to their faiths may come in the workplace. In too many instances, there are still employers who will not make reasonable accommodations for the obligations of Sikh faith that require the wearing of turban, having beard or wearing head scarf.

SCORE has been part of the lobbying group and have been meeting different Senators in support of this bill.

  

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