By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog
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The last day of the Supreme Court term never disappoints on drama. And this morning, the drama related to the First Amendment and religious liberty. Religious school funding, bakery objections to same-sex weddings, and President Trump’s Travel Ban — major action on all three fronts happened today.
“And remember in all things the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted, for he that doeth not these things, the same is not my disciple.” D&C 52:40
I remember the day – 10 years ago this month – I first realized that government-sponsored healthcare might not be inherently evil.
A British friend and I were engaged in an impromptu debate on social policy. I started lecturing him on the defects of British healthcare compared to true red-state and Mormon principles of self-reliance. Any form of welfare, especially government-sponsored healthcare, perpetuated a cycle of dependence. If an individual legitimately needed help, family, friends, and nonprofits should step in. Government involvement was wasteful, anti-capitalistic, and coercive – it could never heal society.
He offered a pithy response: “I can think of nothing more barbaric about America than that you let people die because they can’t afford healthcare.”
“Barbaric” hit me with a jolt. What an absurd word! And yet, one with truth. [Read more…]
“You’re big. You’re strong. But why didn’t you stop and say, “Mr. President, this is wrong. I cannot discuss this with you?’”
“It’s a great question. Maybe if I were stronger, I would have. I was so stunned by the conversation that I just… took it in.”
“At the time, did you say anything to the president about — that is not an appropriate request?”
“I didn’t, no.” [Read more…]
This afternoon, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which sits in Richmond, VA, just held that President Trump’s second travel ban Executive Order (which superseded his first one) is unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause.
Key quote:
The Government has repeatedly asked this Court to ignore evidence, circumscribe our own review, and blindly defer to executive action, all in the name of the Constitution’s separation of powers. We decline to do so, not only because it is the particular province of the judicial branch to say what the law is, but also because we would do a disservice to our constitutional structure were we to let its mere invocation silence the call for meaningful judicial review.
The deference we give the coordinate branches is surely powerful, but even it must yield in certain circumstances, lest we abdicate our own duties to uphold the Constitution. EO-2 cannot be divorced from the cohesive narrative linking it to the animus that inspired it. In light of this, we find that the reasonable observer would likely conclude that EO-2’s primary purpose is to exclude persons from the United States on the basis of their religious beliefs.
“It is our duty to raise our voice for the voiceless.” ~Kristina Arriaga, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (May 17, 2017).
Last week, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (“USCIRF”) hosted a discussion on their most recent annual report, which details the “countries of particular concern” regarding religious freedom. The State Department periodically issues a similar International Religious Freedom Report. As does the Pew Research Center on Religion & Public Life.
The international threats to religious freedom are serious. Although colloquial use of “religious freedom” varies, encompassing a wide variety of public and private actions that in some way implicate religion, I propose limiting our discussion to a more precise definition. Religious freedom is violated by official government action targeting the peaceful expression of religious belief.
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