Religious Liberty

The ACLU's webpage on the subject says, "The ACLU strives to safeguard the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious liberty by ensuring that laws and governmental practices neither promote religion nor interfere with its free exercise." Nice thought. Is it true? Well, that question is harder than you think.

First, there's the obvious. The ACLU often leads the charge against those who are exercising their religious beliefs. The ACLU came out against the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). They argue that religious liberty is only valid if it doesn't affect anyone else. Since religion must affect every aspect of a believer's life (regardless of what religion that believer is), this is just nonsense. In their view, those who wish to practice homosexual behavior have rights that supersede those who wish to practice their religious beliefs. I'm looking ... I'm looking ... nope! Nothing in the Constitution or Bill of Rights that says, "We have the right to indulge in whatever kind of sex we wish and you have to support us."

Then there's the claim that they strive to provide safeguards for the First Amendment "by ensuring that laws and governmental practices neither promote religion ..." Stop right there. What does the First Amendment say about promoting religion? On the freedom of religion, the First Amendment says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." I'm looking ... I'm looking ... nope! Nothing there about promoting religion. Now, that's odd, isn't it? I mean, everyone knows that promoting religion is against the First Amendment. Just ask the Freedom From Religion folks. Ask anyone. You know ... "separation of Church and State". Somehow, somewhere along the way we've built this structure, this "sure thing", that says that there must be a vast gulf in America between religion and government. And we're all certain it's there.

But it's not. The prohibited item is not "promoting religion", which, by its very nature, is too vague to be defined. I mean, if a government allows religions to exist, is it not "promoting religion"? Yet, what is really prohibited here? It is the establishment of religion. The government does not have the right in this country to establish a state religion. "You will all be fill in the blank ." Christians, Muslims, Pastafarians, whatever. They don't get to make religious tests for office, don't get to tell you what to believe, don't get to tell you that "Pennsylvania is a Baptist state" (as a ridiculous example). The First Amendment prohibits the government from doing any of that. Nothing in that First Amendment prohibits the government from "promoting religion."

Richard Dawkins, renowned atheist, called himself a "secular Christian" and said that Christianity was "a bulwark against something worse." That kind of thinking -- from an anti-theist -- is a promotion of religion. The early Americans had nothing but positive things to say about religion in general and Christianity in particular as a positive means of defining, moderating, and prospering a nation. That's promoting religion. Nothing in the Constitution prevents the government from promoting religion. We've bought a lie, and the ACLU is working to safeguard it.

Now, I want to be clear. This is not about the ACLU. What I've written here about the ACLU is simply what you'll find in most places and hear from most people. "Oh, yes," most of them will say, "we're in favor of the First Amendment. We're in favor of religious liberty. We're just opposed to the government promoting religion." And they'll likely throw in that "separation of Church and State" thing. And when you point out that they're forcing people with religious convictions to violate their religious conscience by enacting laws to do so, they will deny that the government is making a law that prohibits the free exercise of religion. Why? Well, their answer is the same as the ACLU's. "It's just not." Their answer is, "You can't have the free exercise of religion if it infringes on the rights of others." If they say that, by no means must you ask, "Could you please point me to the Constitutional right that ensures the free exercise of sex?" It just won't go well ... all that logic and such.

But down here at the end, just between you and me -- fellow Christians -- who believe that the Bible is the sole authority in matters of faith and practice, who believe that our view of the world must be determined by God and what He says in His Word ... I'd like to point out that none of this is biblical. So before you go on getting your knickers in a twist because your religious freedoms are being impinged upon, please note: You do so as an American, not as a Christian. There is no command from God that we have the right to the free exercise of religion. Just to keep things clear. Go to court, fight, whatever you think you need to do. Just keep in mind that it's not a Christian issue; it's an American issue. The two are not synonymous.