Coerced membership is sometimes not proper, but coerced dues paying is always proper. He gives no logical answer at all. The teacher who sought the religious exemption quoted from two church documents to make her case. Higgins argues that the intent of the authors of the passage was to admonish employers and governments against taking reprisals against those who choose to organize unions. He is right on the intention of the authors, but he is wrong to say that the passage does not support the teacher's argument.
Words have meaning.
The passage speaks of voluntary participation in unions which should be immune to reprisals. But it remains true that if participation is to be voluntary it cannot be coerced. She argued, correctly, that forced dues paying is a forbidden form of coercion. There is a happy ending to this story. The Illinois Education Labor Relations Board was unconvinced by Msgr.