Can corporations have religious beliefs?

[Jack21222]

Citizens United established that corporations have free speech rights, but do they have religious rights?

Hobby Lobby says that the Affordable Care Act violates the company's religious beliefs, and therefore should be exempt from fines for not following the law.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/hobby-lobby-appeals-birth-control-coverage-mandate/article_2678c83e-99dc-582d-809d-501696c3198a.html

The arts-and-crafts chain, based in Oklahoma City, argued that businesses ... should be allowed to seek exception from that section of the health law if it violates their religious beliefs.

How can a business have religious beliefs? I do not understand their argument.

 

[Office_Shredder]

The standard argument is that corporations are just a collection of people, and a collection of people don't give up their rights just because they organize themselves as a collection of people.

 

[Jack21222]

The standard argument is that corporations are just a collection of people, and a collection of people don't give up their rights just because they organize themselves as a collection of people.

Yeah, I can see that a corporation can have the right to have religious beliefs, but how can it actually HAVE beliefs? Not to be too Monty Python-esque, it's like saying that a man has the right to be pregnant, but can't actually get pregnant.

I simply do not see how a legal entity like a corporation can have something as personal as religious beliefs.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Thsi thread will remain closed. It's based on two false premises.

The first one, as Office_Shredder points out, is that the point of Citizens United (which is the case involving the legality of individuals pooling their resources to make a political film that no single individual could afford) is that individuals do not surrender their First Amendment rights when acting as a group.

The second and more directly relevant one is that Hobby Lobby is privately owned and self-insured, and the legal contention is this is a burden on the individual religious liberties of the owners. Additionally, there are corporations that do have religious affiliations - many ministries are legally incorporated.

 

[LudusRex]

I do not believe that corporations can have religious beliefs. Religious beliefs are a deeply personal and subjective matter that are typically held by individuals, not organizations. While corporations do have certain rights and freedoms, such as free speech, I do not believe that these extend to religious beliefs.

Furthermore, the idea that a corporation can have religious beliefs raises questions about the separation of church and state. The United States is a secular nation, and allowing corporations to claim religious beliefs could potentially blur the lines between religion and government.

In regards to the Hobby Lobby case, I understand that the company's owners may have strong religious beliefs and may not want to provide certain forms of birth control to their employees. However, as a corporation, they must adhere to the laws and regulations set forth by the government. If the Affordable Care Act mandates that companies provide certain forms of birth control, it is not within the rights of a corporation to claim exemption based on their religious beliefs.

Ultimately, I believe that corporations should not be granted religious rights. As individuals, we have the right to hold our own religious beliefs, but this should not extend to organizations and businesses.