The Trump administration created a regulation that vastly expanded religious exemptions for taxpayer-funded contractors in two ways: (1) it expanded the type of organization that can claim a religious exemption to even include for-profit businesses, and (2) it expanded who can be discriminated against in hiring.

What this means is that a much larger swath of federal contractors—which employ more than 20% of the American workforce—can now claim religious exemptions to discriminate even more egregiously in who they employ. The policy is particularly damaging to LGBTQ people, women, religious minorities, and humanists.

The harm is real. It means a taxpayer-funded refugee resettlement program can fire an unmarried woman after she becomes pregnant. It means a building contractor can refuse to hire a transgender man because of the discriminatory religious beliefs of the company’s owner. The bottom line: it distorts the concept of religious freedom to allow someone to weaponize their beliefs against workers.

The Biden administration has proposed a rule that would rescind this carte-blanche to discriminate. The new proposed rule would return the government’s policy to the narrow and discrete religious exemption in place before Trump, and restore the equity, fairness, and, of course, religious freedom that previously existed. (American Humanist Society)

My comment: The religious beliefs and sexual orientation of employees have absolutely nothing to do with employers, unless they affect the smooth running and profitability of the company. This pandering to the views of religious extremists is no doubt a vote-winner among some evangelicals (not all!) but is perverse and cruel.

In my old company we had unmarried women pregnant, homosexuals, etc, a cross-section of humanity; and they were all treated – with humanity. Epicurus is famous for thinking, and acting, likewise. It is called understanding and civilized behavior.