A Good Witness

Christian Post writes about a teacher who is suing a church for discriminating against her for getting pregnant out of wedlock...

DALLAS (AP) — A church preschool teacher who became pregnant out of wedlock sued her employer, saying she was forced to sign a pledge that she would stop having sex until marriage.

Freda Brown also claims in her federal lawsuit that First Baptist Church of Dallas leaders asked her inappropriate questions and reduced her compensation.

The suit was filed last week after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determined that Brown had been discriminated against because of her gender and pregnancy.

A First Baptist spokeswoman referred calls to the church's attorney, John Harrison, who said he had not yet talked to church leaders about the lawsuit.

Brown was not married when she became pregnant with her first child. When the church discovered she was pregnant in May 2005, staff members invited her to a meeting and told her that premarital sex was wrong, according to the lawsuit.

She said she was asked questions about her sex life including, "Were you a virgin when you had sex with the child's father?" and "Why can't you just get married to the child's father?"

At another meeting, Brown said the human resources director told her that she was "not living a Christian lifestyle" and that she would have to sign a statement agreeing not to have premarital sex if she wanted to keep her job.

In June 2005, First Baptist told her that she would be suspended with pay until she had her baby, Brown said. She filed a complaint with the EEOC and was allowed to return to work but she was made a part-time employee and lost insurance benefits, according to the lawsuit.

The EEOC determined discrimination and retaliation did occur. The agency was unable to settle the matter and provided Brown with a "right-to-sue" letter.

First off lets consider that the woman should have known better than to get pregnant outside of marriage and not expect a Christian school to have a problem with this. A lesson for young ladies - don't become a Christian teacher if you can't live up to the expectations of the position!

James 3:1 (New International Version)
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

The second issue is the way the church treated her. A lesson for the churches with schools. If you want your teachers (and other leaders) to live a lifestyle of righteousness put it in writing and have everyone sign the document before hiring them! It is not fair even by the teachings of Jesus to expect something from someone without letting them know that it is to be expected.

James 3:2 (New International Version)
We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

Lets put this all together now for if you've noticed these two verses are naturally side by side:

James 3:1-2 (New International Version)
1Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

What more do these two verses say to you?

Link
Teacher Sues Church Over Premarital Sex Issues