What is religious freedom and what does the freedom allow Americans to do?

Before I answer the question posed in the title of this article, I want to give credit to Ned Dougherty for asking this question in his article, “Pedagogy is Poetry: US Geography and Kim Davis.” I found Ned’s articles (about teaching high school history) very interesting, and was myself inspired to take a stab at answering this question.

I think it best to start by finding a good definition of religion. I found the following definition on dictionary.com

religion

[ri-lij-uh n]

noun

1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a super human agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
2. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.
3. the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.

Before answering Ned’s question, I also think it is important to note where the idea Americans have a right to “religious freedom” is prescribed, The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America:

Amendment 1

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The First Amendment talks about several issues, religion being only one of them. Something else to look at (some other time) is how those various issues (freedom of religion, speech, peaceable assembly, petitioning the government) might be related to one another.

So, combining the First Amendment with the definition of the word “religion”, it might look something like this:

The American government shall not tell Americans what to believe or not believe about God, or what happens to us when we die, or how we and everything else got here in the first place.

We know there are many religions… Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Shintoism, and many others. Even Atheism is a religion when considered in the light of the definition of the word. You will find Americans adhering to every one of these belief systems and more.

So the First Amendment gives us the right to hold whatever religious beliefs we like, and to freely engage in practices supporting our beliefs (like going to church).

Something that is not said explicitly in the First Amendment, but has to be true from simple logical deduction is this… While we are free to believe and practice our religions, those beliefs and practices cannot infringe on the right of others to believe and practice differing religions.

So, in answer to Ned’s question… Religious freedom is the right to believe as we please, and to live our lives in accordance with those beliefs, so long as our beliefs do not stop others from believing and living as they choose… Pretty simple and straight forward.

There are all sorts of other questions about religious freedom that are cropping up these days. Some people think the religious freedom granted to them by the First Amendment allows them to extend their religious beliefs and practices into everything thing they do. Ned talked about Kim Davis, a county clerk in Kentucky, who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Here’s where the idea of “religious freedom” starts to get complicated. If Ms. Davis is acting on behalf of a US government agency, and uses her religious beliefs to guide her actions as a government employee, then isn’t she and the government agency for which she works “respecting an establishment of religion?” Something the First Amendment explicitly prohibits.

It seems to me, if “religious freedom” is interpreted the way Ms. Davis is interpreting it, the same idea can be used to justify almost anything. I could say, “My religion says, ‘Paying taxes is a sin.’” If we go down this road we end up with anarchy… anything goes.

What if Ms. Davis decides to leave her job as a county clerk to start a bakery? What if the same same-sex couple comes to her bakery asking her to make them a wedding cake? She’s not working for a government agency any more. Is this a situation where her Constitutionally guaranteed right to religious freedom gives her the right to refuse service to the same-sex couple?

[ Mal scratches his head… ]

This is soooo complicated…

[ Mal wanders off to ponder how this all works… ]