Michael, why should I care about the freedoms of religious people?

Hi Gail,

I believe that there are both practical and spiritual reasons that we should care about the freedom of both religious and non-religious people.

Issues of conflict in faith have existed since the beginning of time when for one reason or another people used violence against those whose religious practices differed from their own. I suppose it goes back to the first murder - Cain killed Abel because of a disagreement over religion.

Religious intolerance has led to millions of murders and many more instances of non-violent but coercive tactics throughout history. People who want to control other people, either under a guise of secularism or religion, run into the roadblock of faith - if you have faith then you don't have to answer to the person who is standing in front of you. You know that whatever happens, you still have a future.

Religious tolerance (at the least) or embracing of religious diversity from a public policy standpoint requires those in power to understand that they cannot have the final say over your life. It makes for a kinder, more just society - and this is something that anybody could appreciate regardless of what they believe.

From a spiritual standpoint, God does not want people to use religion as a weapon for subjecting other people to persecution. God wants to use our spirituality as a tool for communication with us and anything that impedes this conversation with God misrepresents His character. He doesn't want people to force others to worship Him through the use of intimidation or violence. His church should never take on the tactics of organized crime.

When we care, and more importantly, act in favor of religious freedom, we are working toward a freer society where God can be honored for who He is.

Do you see religious freedom as a stand-alone liberty? Or does loss of religious freedom correlate with or follow the loss of other freedoms?

Do you see any examples of where governmental policies are violating constitutionally protected religious rights today?

I do struggle a bit with our concept of "fighting for religious liberty". Mostly because

1) It requires government enforcement of some sort, which potentially does quite opposite... it violates religious liberties of people on the other side of the conflict. Example would be forcing an employer to honor the Sabbath-keeping employee's liberty. While one religious view is upheld, the other is diminished.

2) Generally, we go about the defending the religious liberty by means of a team of lawyers and petition to the government, instead of educating people how to be less dependent on entities that would potentially violate such liberties.

What would you say to the people like I, who think that it's important to maintain the both sides of the liberty spectrum... i.e. for the employers to have a choice whether they want to employ someone with belief system that is contrary to their own. After all our churches, colleges and Universities do discriminate based on religious views and preferences.

Very good points fccool. But I do find it interesting that many don't want government involved in there lives but have no problem with them interfering with the Sabbath.

pk