Religious Liberty - Key to Freedom
Michael Warren
Hall of Fame Judge; co-Founder, Patriot Week; Constitutional Law Professor; Host and Producer at Patriot Lessons: American History & Civics Podcast; Business Court Judge
The federal government should "avoid the slightest interference with the rights of conscience or the functions of religion, so wisely exempted from civil jurisdiction." James Madison, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1809.
As noted by James Madison - father of the Constitution and author of the Bill of Rights - the free exercise of religion is a key to freedom. United with Jefferson, he was instrumental in the passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which ended taxpayer support of religious ministers, and paved the way for the First Amendment's prohibition of established state churches.
As Madison reflected, our first duty is to God, and it is tyrannical (and futile) to attempt to violate religious conscience through government coercion. This unalienable right may be protected in America today, but its protection is relatively fragile and new. For most of the course of human history, dictating religion was commonplace - religious coercion and oppression was part and parcel with life. Today, the ugly head of religious tyranny continues - the Islamic State (ISIS) just being the most vicious and recent example.
Count our blessings - literally, for the freedoms that Madison and Jefferson worked so hard to protect.
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