Elder Dallin H Oaks talk on Friday at Chapman University School of Law regarding the importance of religious freedom in society reminded me of something.
I remember an experience from several years ago in which I gathered with several of my classmates from Orem High School outside the Marriott Center in Provo just prior to our graduation ceremony. The purpose of having the somewhat impromptu meeting was to add some spiritual meaning to the culmination of our high school experience. On the grass outside our graduation venue, some fifty or so of us Tigers bowed our heads and shared a word a prayer.
I remember thinking how strange it was that this particular experience had to be held unofficially apart from the commencement exercises. Especially since most of us (I’d estimate 80%+) were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there was a sense of awkwardness and defiance in our having to go around the authorities in order to exercise our religious beliefs.
More recently, probably five or six years ago, I listened to an opinion commentary that discussed the possibility of churches losing non-profit, tax exempt status for breaching the political correctness status quo, specifically by preaching against things such as homosexuality and other moral sins about which an increasing segment of society would rather not be reprimanded. As I remember it, the conclusion was drawn from recent events at that time that crimes committed against people who choose to live homosexual lifestyles were being classified as hate crimes so that federal funding (rather than or in addition to the budget for the local precinct) could then be used to investigate. After listening to the report, I wondered to myself and later discussed this question with my wife, “Is it possible that the leaders of Christian churches [and more personally the LDS Church] could eventually become subject to prosecution for teaching that homosexual behavior is a sin?”
After seeing the outcry against President Packer’s words of wisdom in last General Conference, it is much more obvious to me that there is an agenda being promoted in our country that has as its core mission the obliteration of religion in modern America.
That’s why Elder Oaks’ talk yesterday and the principles it holds up are so critical to understand. From the Church’s Newsroom blog:
Elder Oaks noted instances in which individuals who have spoken out or acted in accordance with their religious beliefs have been disciplined, dismissed from their employment and otherwise punished, describing these cases as another sign of the threat to the free exercise of religion.
“All of this shows an alarming trajectory of events pointing toward constraining the freedom of religious speech by forcing it to give way to the ‘rights’ of those offended by such speech,” Elder Oaks said.
As a people who still recognize that we are a Christian nation, which means that we respect and tolerate other religious beliefs while maintaining the right to vocalize our own (see Article of Faith 11, it is incumbent upon us to stand up for our religion as well as for our rights to express it in public.