After decades of exhibiting at the National FFA Convention and Expo, a Christian farming ministry says it has been shut out over the very faith that defines its mission -- and a religious liberty law firm is demanding the door be reopened, according to Charisma News.

Liberty Counsel has sent a demand letter to the National FFA Organization calling on it to reverse its rejection of the Fellowship of Christian Farmers International (FCFI) before the October 21-24 convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.

According to Liberty Counsel, the FFA denied the ministry's exhibitor application under a policy stating that "organizations with political or religious affiliations or advocacy are not eligible to exhibit at the Expo." The FFA defended the exclusion by pointing to its federally chartered educational status and its obligations under the Establishment Clause, describing the policy as an effort to be neutral toward all political and religious affiliations.

Liberty Counsel's letter challenges that defense head-on. "An exclusion expressly based on religion is not neutral treatment, and purporting to exclude multiple religious organizations does not cure the discrimination against each of them," the letter states.

The ministry's absence from the national expo began in 2018, when it was disinvited after decades of participation. Liberty Counsel said that decision was tied to the FFA's diversity, equity and inclusion goals. Since then, the ministry has exhibited at more than 30 state FFA events -- but the door to the national gathering has remained closed.

That ongoing exclusion sits uneasily beside the FFA's own public words about inclusion. In 2020, National FFA Foundation President and Chief Marketing Officer Molly Ball declared, according to Liberty Counsel: "No matter...what race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic background, or agricultural background you have, there is a place for you in the FFA."

Liberty Counsel also noted that three Christian universities -- Marian, Dordt and Huntington -- are among the 357 approved exhibitors at this year's convention, raising questions about how consistently the religious-exclusion policy is being applied.

The ministry is not asking for special treatment. According to Liberty Counsel, it simply seeks ordinary exhibitor access -- voluntary conversations and lawful booth activities -- without any FFA sponsorship or endorsement of its views.

The legal argument runs deeper than one booth. Liberty Counsel contends the expo operates as a public accommodation and that the religious exclusion violates federal Title II, Indiana law, and Indianapolis' nondiscrimination ordinance. Its letter demands booth approval, full exhibitor privileges, and the removal of the blanket religious prohibition.

"Religious discrimination has no place at a public accommodation event that purports to prepare young people through agricultural education for leadership and success," Liberty Counsel founder and Chairman Mat Staver said.

These are allegations in a legal demand, not rulings by a court. The FFA has stated its position -- that the policy is neutral and has been applied to other groups as well -- and no judge has yet weighed in on whether the exclusion violates the law. Readers should weigh both sides as the story develops.

What is not in dispute is the larger pattern this story belongs to: across America, faith-based groups are being told that the price of admission to public life is leaving their beliefs at the door. Whether that is neutrality or discrimination is a question the courts, and the country, will keep having to answer.