It renewed debate about what public insurance policies aside from avoiding racial discrimination in schooling may qualify as elementary and in addition whether or not and to what extent the doctrine ought to apply to church buildings, versus the spiritual faculties concerned within the authentic case. The IRS has taken the place that church buildings are not any totally different than every other tax-exempt organizations on this context, though it has solely denied or revoked the tax-exempt standing of a handful of church buildings primarily based on this doctrine.

The emergence of the Bob Jones College determination within the Obergefell oral argument renders consideration of those points notably well timed, particularly in gentle of developments over the previous a number of a long time each with respect to the authorized standing of church buildings and what arguably could possibly be thought-about elementary coverage. This Article subsequently explores whether or not there are rising conflicts between a major variety of church buildings and what could possibly be thought-about elementary public coverage, not solely with respect to sexual orientation discrimination but in addition with respect to intercourse discrimination, sanctuary church buildings, and different areas. Discovering that there are a number of present or seemingly future such conflicts, it then explores whether or not there are philosophical and authorized grounds for treating church buildings in another way from different tax-exempt organizations for functions of making use of the contrary-to-fundamental-public-policy doctrine and the associated illegality doctrine. Drawing on each the longstanding idea of “sphere sovereignty” and rising work within the space of First Modification establishments, the Article concludes that church buildings shouldn’t be topic to the previous doctrine, however that they nonetheless ought to be topic to lack of their tax advantages in the event that they interact in or encourage vital felony exercise. The Article then concludes by making use of this conclusion to the recognized areas of present or seemingly future battle to reveal how the IRS and the courts ought to apply the Bob Jones College determination to church buildings.