Department of Justice Steps Up to Protect Religious Liberty | RCR
Attorney General Jeff Session’s Department of Justice has assumed an important leadership role in protecting and promoting religious freedom here at home, giving the cause for religious liberty renewed vigor.
Last October, in response to an executive order on religious liberty, the Department issued a “20 principles” guidance to all executive departments and agencies setting forth federal legal protections for religious liberty.
Religious liberty is not merely a right to personal religious beliefs or even to worship in a sacred place. It also encompasses religious observance and practice. Except in the narrowest circumstances, no one should be forced to choose between living out his or her faith and complying with the law.
The guidance highlights a variety of protections provided by federal laws including the strict scrutiny over federal actions that substantially burdens religious observance as well as workplace accommodations for religious practice.
But if the laws are so clear, why is there a need for executive orders and Justice Department involvement?
According to Sessions, “A dangerous movement, undetected by many, but real, is now challenging and eroding our great tradition of religious freedom.” What movement is he referring to?
A preschool was barred from competing in a state grant program to resurface its playground simply because the school is run by a church. Christian pregnancy centers have been mandated to promote state programs offering low-cost or free abortions. The Little Sisters of the Poor were forced to offer employees insurance that covered services that violated their conscience.
Fortunately, the Supreme Court has ruled in all these cases that such government-led affronts to the free exercise of religion or free speech cannot stand. Yet the attacks continue.
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