What should American Christians do for religious liberty in the world? 70% of the world’s population does not enjoy the freedom to worship according to conscience as we know religious freedom in this land. I think, in most cases, this fact alone calls for Christians and non-Christians to work together to impact the world in such a way that people will be truly free to worship as they believe, or to not worship at all. What an army we would be, Christian and atheist, if we worked for this common purpose.

Put very simply we ought to strongly encourage the countries of the world to uphold the principles already set forth in Article XVIII of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted by the United Nations in 1948)) as the aspirational goal for all of humankind:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or […]

The second major debate about religious liberty in America has surrounded what is called the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. The First Amendment says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . " In 1878 the Supreme Court was first called upon to interpret the extent of the Free Exercise Clause in a case called Reynolds v. United States. This case related to the prosecution of polygamy under federal law. The Supreme Court upheld Mr. Reynolds' conviction for bigamy, deciding that to rule otherwise would provide constitutional protection for a gamut of religious beliefs, including those as (potentially) extreme as human sacrifice. The Court said: "Congress cannot pass a law for the government of the Territory which shall prohibit the free exercise of religion. The first amendment to the Constitution expressly forbids such legislation." Of federal territorial laws, the Court said: "Laws are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious beliefs and opinions, they […]

Yesterday I gave a short history of the development of religion, with particular emphasis on how religious liberty has evolved, in America. I ended with the more recent developments that include the rise of secularism and pluralism.

While large sections of America are still deeply committed to the expression of faith in more traditional forms this is clearly changing. When the fastest growing segment of the population, in terms of religious preference or choice, is "none" then we know times are changing. This percentage is now 15% and growing by 0.5% a year presently. In addition, the percentage of people under 35 who attend church has plummeted in less than one generation to virtual all time lows for church attendance in America.

Enter the voice of pluralism into the public context. Pluralism's problems are most evident in the area of litigation and political controversy. Since the 1940s the U.S. Supreme Court, along with many state and most federal courts, has been asked to resolve numerous problems that have arisen because our once homogenous society is no […]

Perhaps no subject is more commonly misunderstood, by both political conservatives and liberals, than the separation of church and state and the even broader issue of religious liberty in American life, both public and private. We often fail to get the church-state, religious freedom and religion and politics equation right. One reason for this failure is that the vast majority of people have not thought about this equation seriously at all. They not only fail to understand America’s religious history but they do not understand the principle of church-state clearly.

Some History

Religion in America has expressed itself in manifold ways, making America the most religious nation in the world and the freest. Much of our religious expression, and most of its rich variety, came initially from Europe. More recently it has come from the Middle and Far East as new waves of immigrants have come into the nation. What is often forgotten is that the European discoverers of America found religion already in place when they arrived here, only adding […]