That’s like saying you have no right to question a person who was a member of ISIS who was nominated for an office. There is no guarantee that your affiliations with groups tangential to religious denominations can not be questioned in an interview. That would be like saying I couldn’t question a Boy Scout of America’s CEO on his time heading an organization during a time that saw the molestation of children simply because the organization at large professes Christian beliefs. Just because an organization is slightly more engrained in the church (but still not actually under the church’s control) doesn’t make it invulnerable to questions in interviews.Those organizations are much less integrated and not under as direct of authority and the auspices of the parent organization, as the Knights of Columbus. So no, you did not make your point.
That would be like saying that if a Franciscan Friar were appointed to a position within the government or the Pope gave a special dispensation for an Augustinian Friar to receive the same appointment, that he could be denied that position, based purely on him being a member of that group within the church, without taking away his constitutional rights.
You cannot question any of those candidates based on religious beliefs, any more than you can question a Catholic judge who is a practicing member of the church. She had no right to question the candidate because of him being a member of the Knights of Columbus. She could have questioned him on issues that were law, without mention of the church. But she stepped out of bounds when she mentioned the organization.
You are a little out of your depth here. A Canon lawyer would tear you apart on this argument.
I think this has more to do with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Which there have to be exceptions to. For example, it would be ridiculous for a Baptist Church in Kentucky to be disallowed from asking a candidate if they’re Christian when trying to select a new minister when the candidate they’re interviewing arrived wearing the garb of a Muslim. I also think there could be exceptions for lines of questioning when you are a candidate for an office that has legal or judicial authority over people who may not share your Religious belief system. After all, religion seems to come up quite a bit in elections which are basically just job interviews for politicians.
Moreover I don’t think having a religion that the interviewer might not agree with should be an acceptable disqualifying characteristic, but the interviewer should be allowed to ask are you able to separate your personal religious beliefs from those of the conglomerate group of people you are about to represent?