Why We Need Strengthened Religious Liberty Protections

Religious liberty is the foundation that protects all other freedoms—speech, assembly, and association alike. Christians should be vigilant in defending religious liberty for when it is diminished, something else inevitably takes its place—and that substitute is never morally neutral. The authority that dares to suppress the exercise of faith endangers the very soul of humanity. For this reason, Christian citizens have a duty to resist any government that seeks to claim power belonging to God alone.

However, the rise of secularism has caused some to diminish the importance of religious liberty. State officials tend to treat religious liberty as merely practical rather than as an end in itself. For instance, in the wake of COVID lockdowns, some lawmakers have argued that virtual religious services were sufficient substitutes whenever state powers deemed it necessary. While government bears a responsibility to safeguard physical health, it has no authority to determine what is good or bad for the human soul. In doing so, officials often overlook how essential religious liberty is to the moral integrity of individuals and the vitality of a free democracy.

To understand why this matters, we must first consider what it means to be human. God made every soul with an inescapable desire to understand transcendent truths — humans, by nature, want to encounter ultimate reality. Through liturgy and religious practice, our minds are lifted beyond ourselves, awakening us to the spiritual realities that surround us. We are not dislocated creatures, moving nihilistically through space. Instead, we are participants in history, sharing in the past and the future. In singing hymns, reciting Scripture, and praying together, we awaken to the reality that we belong to something far greater—both visible and invisible—a living communion of witnesses across time and eternity.

Additionally, because humans are made for transcendence, they require more than a screen to encounter it. In-person worship stands in quiet defiance of an age increasingly ruled by technology. At a time when much of life is lived on a screen, and AI chatbots increasingly substitute for emotional attachment, houses of worship offer something rare and irreplaceable — a place where people gather as whole human beings, nourishing body and spirit together, free from the noise of technology. In Baptism and Communion, our bodies touch physical elements while our souls are nourished in faith. These sacred practices not only align our spirits and bodies but also bring us into fellowship with other believers. Yet state officials seldom consider the deeper theological and philosophical benefits that take place in houses of worship.

Furthermore, because worship shapes the whole person, those who lead it are uniquely equipped to discern what best serves their congregations and communities. Protections for religious liberty uphold this order by affirming and preserving the proper social roles between church and state. Some argue that government must retain unrestricted authority to close houses of worship in times of crisis, claiming that such power safeguards the public good. Yet this view presumes that clergy are either unqualified or unwilling to act responsibly on behalf of their communities—a presumption that misunderstands both their vocation and their commitment to the common welfare. In reality, clergy are often better equipped to make decisions that serve the common good.

Christians must be vigilant against encroachments on religious freedom and understand why religious liberty is so vital for human flourishing. We must insist that houses of worship are not optional considerations to be opened and closed at a bureaucrat's discretion. They are, in the fullest sense, essential —to democracy, to human dignity, and to a people who believe that every soul is answerable not to the state, but to God.