"How Little My Countrymen Know"

Religious freedom is a right that we as Americans have enjoyed for over 200 years. Sometimes when we have enjoyed something for so long we lose perspective. What does it mean to have religious freedom? What does it mean to be without it?   The Department of State published the International Religious Freedom Report for 2013 in which it states,

 “In 2013, the world witnessed the largest displacement of religious communities in recent memory. In almost every corner of the globe, millions of Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and others representing a range of faiths were forced from their homes on account of their religious beliefs. Out of fear or by force, entire neighborhoods are emptying of residents. Communities are disappearing from their traditional and historic homes and dispersing across the geographic map. In conflict zones, in particular, this mass displacement has become a pernicious norm……All around the world, individuals were subjected to discrimination, violence and abuse, perpetrated and sanctioned violence for simply exercising their faith, identifying with a certain religion, or choosing not to believe in a higher deity at all. Governments from all regions subjected members of religious groups to repressive policies, discriminatory laws, disenfranchisement, and discriminatory application of laws. These governmental actions not only infringed on freedom of religion themselves, but they also often created a permissive environment for broader human rights abuses. Restrictive policies included laws criminalizing religious activities and expression, prohibitions on conversion or proselytizing, blasphemy laws, and stringent registration requirements or discriminatory application of registration requirements for religious organizations."

That is what it means to be without religious freedom. This report gives accounts of governmental religious intolerance from China, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Sudan, Russia, and many others. 

Americans truly do enjoy rights and liberties that many people around the world may never even begin to understand. Yet the American people are often opposed to religious freedom. In the recent Supreme Court decision on the Hobby Lobby case the Court decided that Hobby Lobby has the option of opting out of the contraceptive mandate on religious principles. The court decided that Hobby Lobby’s decision fell under the protection of the 1^st amendment. The decision was met with mixed feelings. Many Americans were furious. Protesters stood outside Hobby Lobby locations handing out birth control. Women knit uteri and sent them to Hobby Lobby. Even Christian groups who were opposed to the decision stood outside Hobby Lobby holding prayer vigils. This decision supported individual’s rights to live their religious beliefs and the American people are furious? The question is, do the American people have such a misconstrued understanding of religious freedom that they are ignorantly opposing its existence in our country? Or, is it that the American people simply do not want it? ow HoHow Thomas Jefferson once stated “How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy.” True, even more so today. 

History: City on the hill

In 1630 future Governor John Winthrop sailed with one of the first groups of puritans to Boston. While on board he deliver what is called the "little speech". In this address Winthrop referred to the new colonies as "the city on the hill". He took the phrase from the book of Mathew in the Bible. Winthrop believed that the new colonies had a heavy responsibility from God, "for we must Consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us; so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world." The colonies, established by groups like the puritans, were the foundation for a new nation. Eventually the colonies would revolt against Great Britain, write their own Constitution and establish a new republic. However the idea that America is a "city on the hill" has continued to be embedded in our nations history. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech in which he stated,

"Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us—and our governments, in every branch, at every level, national, state and local, must be as a city upon a hill—constructed and inhabited by men aware of their great trust and their great responsibilities."In his farewell address delivered in 1989 President Ronald Reagan recounted how he believed America was doing with this endeavor, 

"I've spoken of the shining city all my political life…. And how stands the city on this winter night? … After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true to the granite ridge, and her glow has held no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home." Of course Reagan and Kennedy are not the only presidents to make this biblical reference in fact Clinton, Bush, Carter, Nixon, Eisenhower, Roosevelt, Truman, Hoover, and Coolidge, are just some of the more recent presidents who have made similar statements. The idea that America is set up as an example to the world and is accountable to God has a along standing history in our nation. Religion is so intertwined in Americas history that it is almost impossible to separate the two. Though great effort has been made to to eliminate this aspect of our history it can never be truly blacked out. Religious ideals and beliefs were the foundation on which the American society built.

History: Washington's farewell address

George Washington attributed the Colonists success in the Revolutionary war to God. He strongly believed that in order for a nation to have political prosperity they must have religious freedom. The following is an excerpt from Washington's Farewell Address (1796).

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens? The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

Watch It: Ronald Reagan (public official expresses his religious beliefs)

FYI: Mormon Apostle: Believers Should Join Together to Defend Free Exercise of Faith

Dallin H. Oaks attended University of Chicago School of Law. He practiced law in Chicago and became a law professor at University of Chicago School of Law. Oaks served at the Illinois Constitutional Convention as a legal consultant to the Bill of Rights Committee. Oaks was the President of Brigham Young University and was also appointed to the Utah Supreme Court. Oaks was listed as a United States Supreme Court Justice nominee in 1976 under President Ford and again in 1981 by the Reagan administration. Oaks is also a religious leader for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints. Oaks delivered the following address at Brigham Young University Idaho however he directed it to all who support religious freedom. Dallin H. Oaks has given several similar lectures on religious freedom.

Mormon Apostle: Believers Should Join Together to Defend Free Exercise of Faith

FYI: 5 questions about the Hobby Lobby case and contraceptive coverage

5 questions about the Hobby Lobby case and contraceptive coverage

FYI: Religious Freedom Linked to Economic Growth, Finds Global Study

Religious Freedom Linked to Economic Growth, Finds Global Study