Religious Liberty
Editor’s note: The next several posts will be looking alternately at Republican and Democratic priorities that I believe Jesus probably supports. If you’re new to this blog, it would be helpful to start from the beginning. But regardless, recognize that the very predictable reactions of cheering for one and booing for the other are the reasons for the earlier material.
Over the last decade, Pew Trusts states that the United States has moved from a country of “low” religious freedom restrictions to “moderate” restrictions. (*1) That sentence right there ought to scare us significantly, especially if you’ve done any significant reading on our country’s history. Freedom and Liberty are our bedrock in the United States. We describe ourselves in song as
the land of the free and the home of the brave. (*2)
In the Declaration of Independence we read,
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. (*3)
And in the Preamble to the Constitution we read,
We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity… (*4)
When a research center reports that we Americans are less free than we were in years past, that should rattle everyone’s cages.
As before, let’s approach this from two different starting places. Tim Urban in Wait But Why analyzes the amazing genius of the founding of the country this way. Most other countries of the world operated by the principle,
Everyone can do whatever they want, if they have the power to pull it off.
Free-Photos/Pixabay
The U.S., however, chose to operate on sets of values instead of merely a power game. Instead of bullying opponents (Power Games) to get what we want, we have to convince them by using a carrot instead of a cudgel (*5). And in a brilliant division of authority, the Constitution lays out the rules: the citizenry functions as the brain, and the government has the cudgel. Urban summarizes:
the net result is a country where “people are free to do whatever they want, as long as it doesn’t harm someone else.” (*6)
Now from a Biblical worldview starting point. Dutch Sheets writes,
Our founding fathers were all about liberty. It wasn’t that they woke up one day and were suddenly patriotic and nationally-focused. They were largely Christians. They understood from their Bible readings and common study of the Word that liberty was very important to God. Liberty and freedom are used almost interchangeably in the Bible. The meaning in the Greek is to be free of anything that would enslave us… The founders saw liberty as a key freedom; as a right given to them by God, their Maker. For whom the Son sets free is free indeed! (*7) And, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty! (*8) In their world, the Spirit of the Lord was involved in every aspect of their daily lives. They looked to God for everything and acknowledged Him in leading them daily. Our government was even formed as they sought Him for Divine guidance. (*9)
God values freedom so highly that He risked everything in order to secure it for us. From the Garden of Eden on, people have been free to choose God and His ways or not. Most of the answers to life’s thorniest questions, like “Why is there so much suffering in the world?” trace back to human free will. Urban says “we’re free to do whatever we want as long as nobody gets hurt,” but we hurt one another all the time – sometimes intentionally, often accidentally. As C.S. Lewis points out, God apparently thought it was worth the risk to give us freedom to reject Him, because He desires our love, and love must be freely expressed.
Free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. (*10)
Jesus came along and invited people to follow Him, but He didn’t compel any to do so. And when we are rightly troubled by the depths of evil and depravity expressed by humans, we do well to remember that Jesus chose to pay that cost personally to as high or higher a degree than any of us ever will.
Moving from the value of freedom in general to freedom of religion more specifically, Jesus said,
Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. (*11)
In this statement Jesus established the principle of a distinct realm of “things that belong to God” that should not be regulated or constrained by the government (or “Caesar”). This means that people’s religious convictions and religious activities should clearly be an area in which government gives citizens complete freedom. (*12) Government should not pick a religion and require people to adopt it.
The Constitution picks this same theme up in the First Amendment, where we read,
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the exercise thereof. (*13)
The phrase “separation of church and state,” to the surprise of many, is not found in the foundational documents of our country anywhere, but rather became popular due to some Supreme Court decisions in recent decades that go beyond what the founders intended, in the opinion of many. The founders never intended to keep God out of everything except religion; their concern was the other direction, that the government would step into the religion business.
The rub comes from a trend in recent years to distinguish between freedom of religion and freedom of worship, arguing for the latter but against the former. Freedom of worship recognizes the rights of Americans to believe and worship what and how they so desire in the privacy of their own homes or places of worship. Freedom of worship is much narrower than freedom of religion, because without the broader religious freedom, religious expression can be essentially excluded from the public square. This shift can be seen in numerous controversies today:
Whether or not business owners and medical professionals are allowed to carry out their profession in ways consistent with their religious beliefs.
Whether or not prayer can occur in city council meetings, sports team huddles, graduation ceremonies and so forth.
Whether or not The Ten Commandments or manger scenes or other religious symbols can adorn public space.
Whether or not students or teachers can include expressions of their faith in the classroom.
Whether or not faith-based non-profits can apply on equal footing with non-faith-based organizations for government grants.
Whether or not churches can advocate for public policy that is consistent with their religion.
Whether or not churches should be tax-exempt
I’ve chosen to use language like “faith-based” because it’s common vernacular in these discussions, but it’s a misleading term. We all have faith in something. Every human alive is faith-based. We might place our ultimate faith in God, or we might place it in human reasoning, education, or any number of other things. Some would appear to place their ultimate faith in a political party, though I can’t for the life of me understand why. The efforts to scrub the public square free of all “religion,” actually amounts to the endorsing of one religion (humanism) over others – the very thing the Constitution forbids.
It should be clear from the list above that how much religious liberty we should enjoy is an open question, a concern that the party of the elephants typically trumpets. This dramatic shift is occurring while a huge majority of the public still professes belief in God. Since many of these questions end up in the Supreme Court, five out of nine judges are all it takes to enact sweeping change in the country. This helps to explain why for many Republicans, at or near the top of their list of priorities is going to be who the candidate will nominate/ratify to the Supreme Court.
While it isn’t hard to assign blame, the Bible has a principle that “judgment starts with the house of God.” (*14) Jesus said we should examine ourselves before finding fault with others. (*15) When the most commons words associated with Christians are “judgmental” and “hypocritical,” it’s no wonder that religious liberty is being threatened. (*16) Or, closer to the theme of this book,
When our organizations embody a rugged individualism and fuel division between people intended to be united in mission, we deserve the world’s skepticism. (*17)
We, meaning Christians, have earned much of the baggage associated with us. We would be much better served by focusing our attention on getting our own house in order than by marshaling all our energy against the forces who oppose us.
In the days of the early church, the opposition was quite a bit nastier than anything American Christians currently experience. All but two of the original twelve disciples gave their lives for what they believed. (*18) Within months of Jesus’ own crucifixion, Peter and John were arrested for following Jesus: preaching His word and doing His works. After being threatened by the same leaders who had killed Jesus, Peter and John responded,
Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. (*19)
Peter and John recognized the government’s authority to punish lawbreakers, and yet boldly announced that they answered to a higher authority. And when they were released, rather than praying “Throw the bums out of office, God,” they prayed for even greater courage and boldness. The first Christians focused their time and energy and prayers on what was within their control – their own attitudes and actions.
They weren’t living in a democracy, however. We are, meaning we have some direct control over who governs us and how they go about it. Christ-followers today also answer to a higher authority, and at some point we may eventually find ourselves in situations just like the first followers of Jesus did, and like many do today around the world. In the meantime, we have the responsibility to live out our faith both in private and in public. For Christians to withdraw from the public arena is to compartmentalize our faith in unhealthy and unbiblical ways. We can follow the example of Jesus and His first followers, serving, loving, and speaking the truth boldly and humbly.
And I believe we also have a window of opportunity where we can still humbly attempt to remind others (both voters and elected officials) of the value added to our culture by followers of Jesus, both individually and collectively.
In an age where there’s a growing belief that religion is not a positive for American society, adding up the numbers is a tangible reminder of the impact of religion,
said Dr. Brian Grim, scholar at the Religious Liberty Project at Georgetown University.
Every single day individuals and organizations of faith quietly serve their communities as part of religious congregations, faith-based charities, and businesses inspired by religion. (*20)
In American cities where there are more faith-based homeless shelters, there is a smaller homeless population. (*21) The average church contributes approximately $150,000 of social services to their communities annually. (*22) Forty percent of the top fifty American charities are faith-based. (*23) Across all sectors, churches and faith-based organizations create $1.2 trillion in economic value annually in the United States alone. (*24) For these reasons and others, the government has traditionally made churches and non-profits tax exempt because of the value they bring to their communities. Whether that value continues to be recognized or not remains to be seen.
“Rising Tide of Restrictions on Religion,” Pew Research Center, September 20, 2012, as quoted in Rooting for Rivals, by Peter Greer and Chris Horst, p. 29.
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
A short, thick stick used as a weapon. Urban uses “cudgel” as a symbol for power or brute force.
Urban, The Story of Us, Chapter 4.
Dutch Sheets, “Give Him 15” November 22, 2019.
C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity
Matthew 22:21, KJV
Wayne Grudem, Politics According to the Bible, p. 499
Amendment 1, United States Constitution. www.law.cornell.edu/consitution/constitution.billofrights.html
David Kinnaman, UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity… And Why It Matters
Rooting for Rivals, by Peter Greer and Chris Horst, p. 30.
And the two who didn’t were Judas who committed suicide after betraying Jesus, and John who lived out his life banished to the island of Patmos because of his faith.
Faith Counts, “New Study Values Faith in America Over One Trillion Dollars,” PR Newswire, September 14, 2016, as quoted in Rivals, p. 53.
Terry Goodrich, “Faith-Based Organizations Shoulder Majority of Crucial Services and Develop Creative Solutions for Homelessness, New Baylor University Study Says,” Baylor, February 1, 2017, as quoted in Rivals, p. 51.
“The Halo Effect and the Economic Value of Faith-Based Organizations,” Brookings, updated November 29, 2016, as quoted in Rivals, p. 51.
Brian Grim and Melissa Grim, “The Socio-Economic Contributions of Religion to American Society: An Empirical Analysis,” Faith Counts, as quoted in Rivals, p. 51.
Research: A New Study Looks at the Significant Impact of Faith and Religion in the United States,” Faith Counts, as quoted in Rivals, p. 51.