ABC: Be Careful About Working for Christians

Job-searchers, there are plenty of reasons to refuse an offer: there’s the wrong industry, the better offer, the long commute – or maybe, suggests ABC, the dreaded Christian boss. 

During ABC’s “World News with Diane Sawyer” Nov. 26 segment, Senior National Correspondent Jim Avila [1] reported that the latest Supreme Court case will be “making your boss’ faith a question to ask in future job interviews.” The Supreme Court agreed to hear appeals [2] challenging the Obama administration’s contraception mandate the same day. The mandate would force employers to provide contraception and abortion-inducing drugs for employees regardless of religious conviction. 

During the arguments, the court will focus on craft-store Hobby Lobby [3] and cabinet-maker Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp [4]., both owned by Christian families, to determine whether religious freedom applies to for-profit corporations. Story continues after the video.

The ABC segment featured Elizabeth Wydra from the Constitutional Accountability Center an expert on the issue. Wydra claimed, “The women who are employed by these companies are legally entitled to no cost FDA-approved contraception coverage. And the employers are trying to take that away from them based on their own religious views.”

However, ABC censored the background of Wydra and the Constitutional Accountability Center, a self-described [5] “think tank, law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of our Constitution’s text and history.” In a piece for CNN, Wydra revealed bias [6], arguing, “In all of American history, secular, for-profit corporations have never been understood to “exercise” religion – have you ever seen Exxon Mobil in the pew next to you at church? – and have never been protected by the right to free exercise.” 

Wydra also filed the brief in the Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby, Inc. case [7], where she is listed as a “Counsel of Record.” [8] Surprise, surprise, ABC made no mention of that detail either – a continuation of the media’s special geniality towards the mandate [9].