Should Courts Settle Religious Disputes?

The Fifth Circuit will soon decide whether to reconsider a case over whether religious groups control their own internal religious matters, or if — in the words of the plaintiff — “Caesar must enter the temple to have a look around.” Under the First Amendment, that’s an easy question to answer. It’s even easier after this summer’s Supreme Court decision in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru.

By a vote of 7–2, Our Lady confirmed that the First Amendment forbids ministers from suing ministries over their termination from the ministry. That rule makes the case before the Fifth Circuit, McRaney v. North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, straightforward. There, an ordained Southern Baptist pastor is suing a national Southern Baptist ministry for his termination from his Southern Baptist ministry position. The ministerial exception doesn’t allow that kind of claim to proceed.