Religious freedom is our “First Freedom,” not only because it appears at the very top of the Bill of Rights but because it undergirds the very nature of individual liberty. James Madison, perhaps the shrewdest of the Founders, understood that without freedom of conscience, no other freedoms could be truly secure. He called an individual’s conscience “the most sacred of all property,” and with good reason. It is not the property of the state, nor of the church, nor of an arbiter in a courtroom. It belongs to the individual, and the First Amendment — when correctly understood — both prevents the government from establishing religion and protects us in the free exercise of our faith (or lack thereof). The problem now is not so much ignorance of history as a willful attempt to rewrite it.

A modern threat to religious liberty

A modern threat to religious liberty

Today, people promoting Christian nationalism are engaged in an open assault on religious freedom under the pretext of protecting it. Their goal? To establish a narrow, sectarian vision of Christianity as the de facto law of the land, wielding it as a cudgel rather than a conviction. Their target? Public schools, immigration policies, and even the fundamental ability of faith communities to practice what they preach — particularly when that involves acts of mercy toward the vulnerable. 

At BJC (Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty), we are alarmed by the government’s overreach into matters of religion, but we also are resolute in our convictions to resist this encroachment as we have been for almost 90 years; and we are not alone. 

Fortunately, our country still has defenses against this creeping governmental encroachment in matters of faith, starting with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) of 1993, which remains one of the most potent legal tools in safeguarding our right to practice our faith. RFRA created a statutory framework that would apply broadly to ensure that the government does not substantially burden the exercise of religion without a compelling reason for doing so and only if no other less burdensome action would satisfy that reason. A related statute, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), provides similar protections in specific instances of government action, including zoning regulations and incarceration. A RFRA or RLUIPA claim will not always succeed. The government has compelling interests, including enforcing civil rights protections that will sometimes 

Combined, these statutes have shielded the right of Muslim police officers to wear beards, prisoners to practice their faith, and pastors’ ability to minister to migrants at the U.S. southern border – as was the case in 2018 when Pastor Kaji Douša won a religious freedom lawsuit after she was illegally targeted by the Department of Homeland Security. 

Understanding the threat

Understanding the threat

Yet, even as these legal protections remain in place, new threats continue to emerge — some more blatant, others more insidious.

These threats are varied:

• The forced intrusion of state-sanctioned religion into public schools, such as teaching the Bible under the guise of “religious literacy,” mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools, and even replacing mental health professionals with unvetted “chaplains.”
• A coordinated effort to sever long-standing partnerships between faith-based non-governmental organizations and the government to serve vulnerable populations at home and abroad.
• The systematic repeal of policies that once shielded houses of worship from ICE raids, rendering sacred spaces vulnerable to the heavy hand of the state.
• Officials questioning of the integrity of faith leaders who are critical of government policies, including denigrating their theology and credentials.  

The good news: History shows us that governmental overreach is rarely met with passive acceptance. But action is required of all of us.

Religious freedom is not the privilege of one faith; rather, our first freedom demands defending the rights of all, including those whose beliefs differ from our own. And so, as threats continue to emerge, our work continues.

Toolkit for religious liberty

Toolkit for religious liberty

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