A Supreme Court case over an Arizona town's discriminatory
treatment of church signs serves as a reminder of the inseparability of First
Amendment free speech and religious exercise.
In an effort to cabin the influence of faith values in the public
square and to force compliance with faith-violating government policies and
ideologies, some have suggested that the First Amendment merely protects the
right to privately hold beliefs about God or to pray.
That would be a meaningless protection. Even the most oppressive
government cannot possibly regulate our private thoughts or prayer; it can only
regulate the expression and the exercise of our beliefs through public speech
and actions.
That's why the First Amendment provides that government may not
prohibit the free exercise of faith, whether in speech or in actions. Public
policy advocates of all stripes do well to remember that if the government can
restrict, coerce and punish one group or viewpoint today, it can restrict,
coerce and punish the opposite tomorrow.
As an imprisoned Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us,
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."[1]
[1] Martin
Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963.
No comments:
Post a Comment