“This point of course contradicts the contention that religion is mostly a matter of history without significance in modern times, or, more ominously, that religion is irrational and discriminatory and therefore should be diminished in both public expression and influence. Far from relics of the past, religious principles and religious believers are a vital present and future force everywhere.”
Our laws and legislation play an important teaching role in shaping our social and moral culture. We need every individual in society to take an active role in engaging in civic dialogue that helps frame laws and legislation that are fair for everyone.
Religion and government travel different but parallel tracks. They are most successful and most effective when they protect and encourage one another.
That makes the present moment an even more appropriate time to remember and to clarify the kind of religion that has given the entire Western world its core sense of human freedom—not just religious freedom, but all political and personal freedom. That civilized sense of religion is so essential to our history, to our constitutional theory, and to the sustaining of successful democracy that we must never let it be confused with radically evil movements that brazenly carry religious flags today.
My purpose today is to review the progression of basic principles that have established religious liberty as part of essential or inalienable rights—the fundamental right of each individual to live according to his or her faith and beliefs—and as a corollary, to protect the religious institutions that provide the essential framework for the promulgation of faith and belief.
"[The protection of conscience] helps people from a wide spectrum of beliefs feel assured that their deepest concerns and values are respected and protected."
The faithful use of our agency depends upon our having religious freedom.
...so much of what we hold dear in our faith we hold in common, and it is so good, so broad, and so potentially powerful in addressing the ills of society that we ought in the fellowship of Christ to work together more than we do.
"As followers of Christ, we should live peacefully with others who do not share our values or accept the teachings upon which they are based."
“There should be room for all good-faith views in the public square, be they secular, religious, or a mixture of the two. When expressed sincerely and without sanctimoniousness, the religious voice adds much to the text and tenor of public debate.”
Be strong. Live the gospel faithfully even if others around you don’t live it at all.
Let us—all of us—have the courage to defy the consensus, the courage to stand for principle.