Walker Defends Religious Liberty on Constitution Day
Posted Sep 18, 2015
Last night, Andrew Walker of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission spoke at Union on “OF First Amendments and First Commandments: Challenges and Opportunities of Religious Freedom” as part of Union’s annual Constitution Day lecture. In his speech, he argued that if people do not have religious freedom, then they are likely to lose their other First Amendment freedoms because free speech, association, press, assembly, etc. are useless if we lack freedom of conscience to believe in God.
Walker began by talking about why we should care about religious liberty and argues that a free society, whether religious or not, depends upon it. Religious liberty is sometimes called the “first freedom” not only because it is listed first in the First Amendment but because the other rights depend upon it. Basically, if you are not free to believe and act on your beliefs, then you are in no sense free. Religious liberty asks to whom are we accountable, who do we live for, who determines our morals – God or the state? If it is the state, then we are not really free. If it is God, then we have a freedom of action that the state cannot infringe.
Next, he talked about the concept of separation of church and state. Most people think that separation of church and state means that the state can do nothing to support a church and it is true that the establishment clause prevents Congress from establishing a state church. However, that does not mean that state cannot accommodate religion and that people cannot bring their faith ideas to the political behavior.
This fact can be clearly seen in the opinions of our Founders. George Washington said, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports.” John Adams another Founding father said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Their basic point is that religion and morality are essential in creating the values necessary for a democratic society as it encourages self-restraint, self-reliance, civility and respect for others, respect for leaders, and places limits on what government can do. Even today, Michelle Obama has argued:
Our faith journey isn't just about showing up on Sunday for a good sermon and good music and
a good meal. It's about what we do Monday through Saturday as well, especially in those quiet
moments, when the spotlight's not on us, and we're making those daily choices about how to
live our live. We see that in the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus didn't limit his ministry to the four walls
of the church. He was out there fighting injustice and speaking truth to power every single day.
He was out there spreading a message of grace and redemption to the least, the last, and the
lost. And our charge is to find Him everywhere, every day by how we live our lives.
The point of these quotes is to show the close connection between faith and politics. According to Christian Smith, humans are believing animals and atheism is not natural to us. If we try to deny the essence of who God is, we repress our beliefs and personhood. The contrast with North Korea is enlightening. In North Korea if someone is healed in the hospital, they must bow down and worship a picture of the North Korea leader before they leave. In North Korea, the leader is the God and so the people have no freedom. In our nation, our First Amendment ensures that the state does not overturn the First Commandment.
In our current environment, the rise of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) issues is causing problems for Christians today. Matt Franck of Princeton has argued that if redefining marriage accords with truth, then there is no reason to respect another point of view. Thus, we see how supporters of same sex marriage preach the importance of tolerance but then do not show tolerance because their side is on the right side of history and the other side only opposes same sex marriage out of bigotry. And if support for traditional marriage is unacceptable discrimination, then it should be purged from our life. The evidence of this can be seen in Brendon Eich being forced out of Mozilla, the company he founded, for supporting Proposition 8, the California proposition that reversed the California Supreme Court decision overturning the same sex marriage ban. It can also be seen in Vanderbilt University withdrawing recognition from Christian groups on campus because they require leaders to subscribe to the Christian sexual ethic. In all of these cases, we see how religious liberty is bundled together. If you have religious freedom, you have freedom of speech and freedom of association. If not, then you lose basic liberties.
These changes should concern everyone because freedom and pluralism are matters of first principles. If one can coerce a private citizen to participate in a same sex ceremony, can we force a Muslim web designer to create a pornographic web site? A Jewish butcher sell pork? Once law enact a particular view of discrimination, it must carry it out to its logical extent. Moreover, we should care about pluralism out of love for our neighbor. We should not make Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, or others infringe their conscience but instead allow diversity to flourish. An erosion of religious liberty will affect how we view other citizens which makes it easier to restrict their freedom or life style.
In concluding, he talked about how we should respond. First, we need to become informed and can find resources on religious liberty at places such as ERLC.com and Firstthings.com. Second, we should contact our elected officials and tell them to support the Religious Defense of Freedom Act which prevents discrimination against those who believe in traditional marriage. Third, we need to create a rationale for the common good based on Christian principles to show that opposition is not bigotry but rooted in the gospel (see Ephesians 5). Fourth, we need to be the tip of the spear in defending the religious liberty of Christians and non-Christians. Fifth, we need to remain true to God and our beliefs by advocating for what marriage is whatever the costs.