- Religious freedom honors the first and second great commandments, placing God at the center of our lives.
- Religious freedom fosters expressions of belief, hope, and peace.
- Religion inspires people to help others.
- Freedom of religion acts as a unifying and rallying force for shaping values and morality.
The list of what is being done is long, but so are the needs.
I invite you to champion the cause of religious freedom.
What is religious freedom?
It is freedom of worship in all its configurations: freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, freedom to act on personal beliefs, and freedom for others to do the same. Religious freedom allows each of us to decide for ourselves what we believe, how we live and act according to our faith, and what God expects of us.
As a church, we join with other religions protecting people of all faiths and persuasions and their right to speak their convictions. This does not mean we accept their beliefs, nor they ours, but we have more in common than we have with those who desire to silence us.
We accept diversity of religious belief both within and between sects. I wish we allowed for that much functional and official diversity of political belief in our political life. We are functionally limited to two political sects and both of those to varying degrees insists on homogeneous orthodoxy within intraparty belief.
When religion is given the space and freedom to flourish, believers perform simple and sometimes heroic acts of service. The ancient Jewish phrase “tikkun olam,” meaning “to repair or heal the world,” is being reflected today in the efforts of so many.…
No question, people of faith, working together, can make significant interventions. At the same time, one-on-one service is often unheralded but quietly changes lives.
If religion is not there to help with shaping character and mediating hard times, who will be? Who will teach honesty, gratitude, forgiveness, and patience? Who will exhibit charity, compassion, and kindness for the forgotten and the downtrodden? Who will embrace those who are different yet deserving, as are all of God’s children? Who will open their arms to those in need and seek no recompense? Who will reverence peace and obedience to laws greater than the trends of the day?
Those who invoke religious language and imagery but do not practice kindness for others and embracing differences are abusing the principle of freedom of religion.
Religious freedom brings balance to competing philosophies. The good of religion, its reach, and the daily acts of love which religion inspires only multiply when we protect the freedom to express and act on core beliefs.
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