Religious Freedom

It is not uncommon for presidents to try to quickly get some things done before they leave office. This particular action, though, highlights some important realities.

With the change in presidential administrations, speculation (and advice) about the relative priority to give to religious freedom concerns is rising.

Responsibility for one’s actions will be required for government officials like it is for the rest of us – and that offers relief for both the Muslim plaintiffs and the rest of us.

Respondents appeared to overwhelmingly recognize the importance of religious freedom protections. The index reports that “when it came to voting decisions, a candidate’s stance on religious freedom was an important factor to 78 percent of voters.”

“It is time—past time—to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues, and mosques.”

“Religious organizations are really the brightest spot in what is an otherwise dismal [foster care] system,” says Naomi Schaefer Riley, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Thanksgiving is an appropriate occasion to talk about religious freedom. The Pilgrims’ baby steps toward religious toleration have had surprising but welcome ramifications through the last four centuries.

Is religious freedom “fast becoming a disfavored right”? That is the worry expressed by Justice Samuel Alito in a recent speech to a virtual convention of the Federalist Society.

A priority for advocates of religious freedom should be to help those with no particular religious belief understand how their rights and liberties are strengthened when religious belief and exercise are protected.