Sorting out religious freedom in America

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States seems simple enough. The Amendment covers the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and the right to petition the government for the redress of grievances. In addition, government is forbidden to be involved in the establishment of religion. This cluster of freedoms, that seem so eloquent at first reading, begs for interpretation.

In actual practice each of the freedoms is not without boundaries. No freedom is absolute. Without ceasing, the U.S. Supreme Court is asked to set the boundaries. I look at the list of freedoms from the perspective of a churchman, not an attorney. The non-establishment and free-exercise clauses relating to religion are especially important to me because I am a Baptist. At the time of the writing of the First Amendment, Baptists were a despised, very small minority. We got what we wanted; we got the protections we needed. Baptists have flourished under these enabling and protective provisions. So also have other small religious groups.

We are now in a whole new era. While the focus of First Amendment rights have historically been about the protection of small groups to practice their religion, the present concerns are about social practices of large, often dominant religious groups. Utah, Texas, California and Massachusetts are very different places. Their cultures bring different concerns to the First Amendment. Abortion services and same sex marriages are two examples of cultural concerns that have come knocking at the door of the Supreme Court. Smaller concerns also get to the court. I never dreamed that making a cake for a gay marriage would become a First Amendment test case worthy of consideration of the U.S. Supreme Court.

It is apparent that Americans cannot agree on what it means to have religious freedom.

Our framers who wrote the First Amendment probably felt that the few choice words that they wrote covered the subjects sufficiently. None of those writers could have imagined the cases that are now being brought to our courts. But is not this the very nature of history? History keeps on moving, and every new day is different. The U.S. Supreme Court will continue to take cases for consideration; but they will also return most cases back to lower courts for further interpretation of the First Amendment. The end of the process is not in sight. The First Amendment tells the government to stay out of the business of religion and to allow the free exercise of religion. Is this not enough? Is religion now abusing their First Amendment rights to avoid the demands of the civil system? This observer sees Roman Catholics and modern Evangelicals in that role. It appears to me that religious freedom is being subverted and is a synonym for hypocrisy. Religious freedom is being used to justify discrimination, intolerance, racism, sexism, and homophobia.

I do not believe the most vital conversations about religion and the state will take place in courts of law. Rather they will take place in religious groups and in the minds and hearts of devout believers. I am much more concerned about the demands being placed on the public by “civil religion” than I am about Muslim groups seeking the same legal protections that I enjoy as a Baptist. I weary at the flag ceremony and the singing of our national anthem that has become standard fare at most football, basketball and baseball games that are played. High school, college and professional. It is the civil equivalent of the reciting of creeds in the worship services of Christian churches. I experience these civil worship exercises as a form of American brain washing.

I recently visited a worship service in an Evangelical Protestant church. My eye immediately was drawn to an American flag along with a “Christian” flag in the worship area. What is an American flag doing in a Christian worship service? (Have we been attending too many football games?)

I consider myself a citizen of two kingdoms. I am a Christian and I am an American. I am fully committed to being first a Christian and am only second an American. I love our American flag and sing our national anthem. I gag at our Congressionally approved Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. My first commitment is to the cross, not the flag of the United States. Even the addition of the words “under God” does not remove my concern. The purpose of the First Amendment is not the separation of church and state, but to keep government out of religion. The First Amendment does not silence my witness to government in matters of morality and ethics. However, my voice can never be a demand that my religion be given a place of privilege over the religious convictions of others.

I write these remarks under the privileges of the First Amendment. I do not claim any privilege that I will not share with every human being.

The End

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.