Radio Recap: Virginia Targets “Jesus Loves You”

Virginia targets “Jesus love you.”

Today on the show, we discussed a lawsuit were filing today against the Virginia Real Estate Board (VREB) for its targeted harassment and discrimination of a Christian real estate agent because she had a Bible verse (John 3:16) on her website and included the phrase “Jesus love you” in her email signature.

Imagine being targeted by the government for saying “Jesus loves you.” I know it sounds absurd, but a Virginia state agency filed a complaint against a Christian realtor, threatening her livelihood, incorrectly claiming she’s violating the fair housing statute of Virginia.

We’re filing a lawsuit today to defend this Christian realtor – Hadassah Carter – charging the VREB with violating her First Amendment rights and various state constitutional and statutory provisions. This is an attack on free speech and basic religious liberty.

She is not a government employee. She doesn’t work for the agency targeting her. She’s actually being targeted because she FIRST contacted the agency about a possible racial discrimination case on behalf of one of her clients who’s offer to buy a home was rejected seemingly on racial grounds.

The agency filed a complaint against her because of her religious speech on her email and website. It also ordered her real estate broker (the owner of the office she worked out of) to monitor her actions and report any religious speech at work.

No clients complained. No co-workers complained. Yet the VREB forced her employer into an agreement to monitor her communications or fire her.

Ms. Carter was ultimately forced to resign rather than compromise her Christian faith.

This is nothing short of an abuse of the state’s religious discrimination statute.

Often times what is important in these situations is that we notify people this is going on. If this has happened or is happening to you, we need to know about it. There is no excuse for state agencies to be so hostile toward Christianity.

This could happen to so many of us. As an attorney I have a license from a state agency. In fact most of the people you see and hear on Jay Sekulow Live have some sort of state license. Imagine if they came after our licenses because we use Christian speech.

I wondered how many of our listeners also hold similar licenses –  whether it’s a plumber or a hair stylist or any number of professions – that could be a victim of government harassment and discrimination like this.

The law is on our side. The Constitution is on our side. We’re standing up for Christians to make sure religious discrimination does not stand.

You can listen to the full episode here.