I have heard about a new startup, currently seeking investors. It may be worth checking out. The company name is Corporate Christi, Inc. It is a business consulting firm designed to help companies take advantage of the 2014 Supreme Court decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby.
You may recall that in that case the Supreme Court held that a corporation could hold religious beliefs that would allow it to avoid paying for contraception as part of the health care plan it offered to employees. Of course, this opened the door to the question: What religion should my corporation be, and how will that impact our bottom line? Corporate Christi was founded to answer that question.
The decision made clear that, if your corporation is Catholic, you can exclude the cost of contraception and abortion, which sounds attractive. However, Corporate Christi urges that there is no reason to be short-sighted. If your corporation is a Jehovah’s Witness, it can refuse to pay for blood transfusions. And Christian Scientists famously reject all sorts of medical treatments on religious grounds.
In an interview, Liam Barnacle, one of the founders of Corporate Christi, explained the company’s value proposition: “There is no single religion that is best for all corporations, just as there is no religion that is best for all other people. And without the sort of religious scholarship that Corporate Christi brings to the table, the best religion for your corporation may be overlooked. For example, Anabaptists flourished in the seventeen century, when the height of medical technology involved leeches and blood-letting. Imagine how that could impact your profits!”
We can only applaud the entrepreneurial spirit and the spiritual entrepreneurs of Corporate Christi. Keep your eyes open as the Supreme Court offers even greater opportunities as it grows in the recognition that corporations must be seen as children of God, with all attendant human rights
