Homosexuality in Legal Perspective (Part III): Reclaiming Religious Liberty
This piece will conclude the Helwys Society’s emphasis month on the topic of homosexuality. Having approached it biblically, historically, and pastorally, we’ve turned lastly to considering it in legal perspective. In Part I, we considered our past and present legal environment. In Part II, we looked in particular at the doctrines of due process, equal protection, and privacy. In this last piece, we’ll consider the important doctrine of religious liberty in more detail.
As Christians we must work to reclaim a robust confidence in the doctrine of religious liberty, theologically and legally. Theologically, it has its basis in God Himself; and legally, in the First Amendment. Religious liberty then is an acknowledgement of the inherent dignity, and thus the right of all persons to freely practice their religion without certain coercions or fears, government or otherwise. When governments would pass legislation that would either directly or indirectly offend people’s free exercise of their religion, it has violated the doctrine of religious liberty. This holds especially true as our society continues to evolve on questions relating to homosexuals, same-sex marriage, and other related topics.
How then might we retrieve this doctrine? We must first know what it is and from whence it comes. We do this by looking to Scripture and Christian teaching, America’s founding and the First Amendment, and the great voices of the past and present that have emphasized this important doctrine.
Theological Basis
As Christians, our first step in reclaiming religious liberty is reestablishing it as a theological doctrine, integral to our faith and practice. Religious liberty is not simply a political doctrine, but as Timothy George put it, a “pre-political” one.[1]
In the Christian faith, religious liberty finds its basis in the character of God, the imago Dei of humankind, and the example of Jesus Christ. God has created all persons in His image with human dignity and freedom (Gen. 1:26-28; 5:1-2; 9:6-7); and Jesus Christ is the perfect image of God, Who dwelt among men as Man, and offers the fullest picture of this dignity and freedom. Violation of this basic, God-given freedom is paramount to a violation of our dignity. Religious liberty then protects this dignity.
Just five years ago on November 20, 2009, Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christian leaders issued a manifesto to affirm this very doctrine (as well as the sanctity of life and the dignity of marriage) in the Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience. It provides in part:
The nature of religious liberty is grounded in the character of God Himself, the God who is most fully known in the life and work of Jesus Christ. . . .Thus the right to religious freedom has its foundation in the example of Christ Himself and in the very dignity of the human person created in the image of God—a dignity, as our founders proclaimed, inherent in every human, and knowable by all in the exercise of right reason.[2]
Thus we see that religious liberty is a deeply theological doctrine. “For good or for ill, the Christian faith is the one faith, more than any other that encourages intellectual and religious freedom,” writes Eric Metaxas. “True Christians throughout history have stood in the vanguard, protecting the religious liberty, not just of Christians, but of non-Christians too.”[3]
In fact, General/Free Will Baptist history bears this out. We see this, for instance, in the example of Thomas Helwys (c. 1575-1616), the namesake of this site, who penned The Mystery of Iniquity, in which he argued that sovereigns do not have jurisdiction over their subjects’ consciences.[4]
However, religious liberty isn’t simply a matter of our Christian history and confession, but also of our American history and our public and political witness. Note how the Manhattan Declaration links these two themes when it defines human dignity this way: “a dignity, as our founders proclaimed, inherent in every human being” (italics added). American history bears this out.
Constitutional Basis
Just as we should work to reestablish the theological basis of religious liberty, we should also work to reclaim its constitutional basis. Our most important source here is the First Amendment and its influences. Writing in the 1770’s, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, in which he said:
Whereas, Almighty God hath created the mind free; That all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens, or by civil incapacitations tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and therefore are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion. . . . [N]o man shall . . . suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of Religion.[5]
As the name and the text of the statute make plain, Jefferson strongly advocated for religious freedom.[6]
Jefferson’s comments in the Virginia Statute served as an important precursor to the First Amendment. In it, James Madison wrote, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” In this statement, we have a constitutional basis for religious liberty. In addition, Jefferson’s and Madison’s comments are representative of the general spirit animating the cultural ethos of the time.
Yet today we live in an environment where religious liberty is being burdened, if not outright threatened. When cities deny church groups equal access to rent public properties; or when universities decline to recognize Christian, student groups with traditional, religious views; or when federal healthcare mandates attempt to require corporations to cover contraceptives and abortion; or when city mayors attempt to compel pastors to submit sermons that make reference to homosexuals—when these types of circumstances are occurring, religious liberty rights are in danger.
To use Jefferson’s words, we should be free to profess and to maintain our religious beliefs, and we should not suffer on account of them. To use Madison’s words, the law should not prohibit us from freely exercising our religious beliefs. Yet circumstances such as these threaten our ability to freely maintain and exercise our beliefs unencumbered. Religious liberty is at stake, and as Christians, we must seek to reclaim this important doctrine of our faith and country.
In 2009, when the Manhattan Declaration was issued, some questioned why the drafters would include religion freedom issues (of all issues) alongside the issues of sanctity of life and dignity of marriage, which seemed so much more important.[7] Yet just five years later, much like C.S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer before them, they have proven to be modern-day prophets by anticipating these threats to religious liberty.
LGBT proponents and religious liberty naysayers contend that religious liberty is not being threatened, and that such voices are blowing a bunch of hot air. However, the prior examples and others like them do not bear this out. “In the name of ‘marriage equality’ and ‘non-discrimination,’” writes Princeton Professor Robert George, “liberty—especially religious liberty and the liberty of conscience—and genuine equality are undermined.”[8]
What are we as Christians then to do? Eric Metaxas writes that it’s “time to sound the alarm on religious liberty.”[9] Similarly, Timothy George writes,
Today, as never before, we are called to join with each other, and indeed with all persons of goodwill, to seek the renewal of religious freedom in our culture. Just expressing our opinion is not enough. We are called to take a stand. We are called to make a commitment and to proclaim the ‘costly grace’ we have freely received in Jesus Christ.[10]
Conclusion
Current, legal trends may not be encouraging for Christians who hold to traditional, Biblical morality. For this reason, we are reminded of the importance of religious liberty all the more. For people like Thomas Helwys, Chuck Colson, Timothy George, Robert George, Eric Metaxas, and others, religious liberty isn’t simply a political issue, but a Gospel issue. It concerns our identity as Christians.
Thus what are we to do? We must have some cursory understanding of doctrines such as due process, equal protection, privacy, the rule of law, and religious liberty. We must also stand boldly and lovingly for religious liberty within our various spheres of influence: home, church, work, and public square.
In our homes, this may mean discussing religious liberty with our families over the dinner table. In our churches, it may mean teaching religious liberty in the context of Sunday school or a small group. At our workplaces, it may mean talking about religious liberty around the water cooler or over lunch. In the public square, it may mean voting on laws that protect religious liberty at the local, state, and national levels; signing petitions or manifestos (such as the Manhattan Declaration); writing letters to local newspapers and representatives; peacefully protesting; or even running for a political office.
We mustn’t allow ourselves to be quieted by some misguided notion of the separation of church and state. Instead, we should seek to transform our society for good as God works in and through governmental sovereigns. As Christians, this is how we can best appreciate and pursue our God-given callings as citizens within our national context.
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[1] Timothy George, “Let Religious Freedom Ring: Why It’s One of the Most Pressing Issues Today,” First Things, June 30, 2014, accessed November 21, 2014, http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2014/06/let-religious-freedom-ring.
[2] “Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience,” November 20, 2009, accessed on November 21, 2014, http://www.manhattandeclaration.org/man_dec_resources/Manhattan_Declaration_full_text.pdf; see also Chuck Colson, “Religious Liberty Held Hostage,” The Christian Post, December 12, 2011, accessed on November 21, 2014, http://www.christianpost.com/news/religious-liberty-held-hostage-64648/; and Timothy George, “Let Religious Freedom Ring: Why It’s One of the Most Pressing Issues Today,” First Things, June 30, 2014, accessed November 21, 2014, http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2014/06/let-religious-freedom-ring.
[3] Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, “Defending Religious Liberty: An Interview with Eric Metaxas,” accessed on November 20, 2014, http://www.acton.org/pub/religion-liberty/volume-22-number-2/defending-religious-liberty-interview-eric-metaxas. See also Timothy George’s comment: “Christians have been among the staunchest supporters of religious liberty” (Timothy George, “Let Religious Freedom Ring: Why It’s One of the Most Pressing Issues Today,” First Things, June 30, 2014, accessed November 21, 2014, http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2014/06/let-religious-freedom-ring).
[4] In addition to Helwys, other examples of persons who have stood for religious liberty include John Murton (1585-1626), Thomas Hooker (1586-1647), Roger Williams (c. 1603-1683), William Penn (1644-1718), Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), and James Madison (1751-1836); and more recently, Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984), Charles “Chuck” Colson (1931-2012), Timothy George (1950-p), Robert George (1955-p), Albert Mohler (1959-p), Eric Metaxas (1963-p), and Russell Moore (1971-p).
[5] Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, http://www.vahistorical.org/collections-and-resources/virginia-history-explorer/thomas-jefferson.
[6] In fact, so important was this theme to Jefferson that he wrote the following for his epitaph:
HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON
AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.
In other words, Jefferson considered religious liberty (not to mention his work with founding the University of Virginia as we considered in Part II) more important than even his presidency of the United States.
[7] See John Stonestreet, “Religious Liberty in 2014,” The Point, September 1, 2014, accessed November 21, 2014, http://www.thepointradio.org/listen/entry/38/25987; and Timothy George, “Let Religious Freedom Ring: Why It’s One of the Most Pressing Issues Today,” First Things, June 30, 2014, accessed November 21, 2014, http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2014/06/let-religious-freedom-ring.
[8] Robert P. George, “Marriage, Religious Liberty, and the ‘Grand Bargain,’” Public Discourse, July 19, 2012, accessed November 21, 2014, http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2012/07/5884/.
[9] Eric Metaxas, “A Line Has Been Crossed: It’s Time to Sound the Alarm on Religious Liberty,” Breakpoint, October 21, 2014, accessed on November 21, 2014, http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/26266.
[10] Timothy George, “Let Religious Freedom Ring: Why It’s One of the Most Pressing Issues Today,” First Things, June 30, 2014, accessed November 21, 2014, http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2014/06/let-religious-freedom-ring.
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