Does Excommunication Violate Ky. Civil Rights Act?

The Kentucky Commission on Human Rights last month heard a case challenging the Amish practice of excommunication of those who have left the faith. The Associated Press reported yesterday on the case out of Cub Run, Kentucky. Ruth Irene Garrett, who had been excommunicated, was turned away from an Amish thrift store. Store owner Erma Troyer asserted a religious freedom defense. Taking money from the excommunicated comes with a risk of followers themselves being excommunicated, as well as being damned to an eternity in hell. Human Rights Commission staff attorney Emily Riggs Hartlage, who represented Garrett, said the incident was a violation of Kentucky's Civil Rights Act for denial of service in a public place for religious reasons. She said the investigation uncovered other ex-Amish who were denied service at Amish stores. But Troyer's attorney said the complaint essentially seeks to force the shop owner to violate Amish doctrine, which could result in her losing her religion or her store.