Does Religious Freedom Matter Anymore?

Victoria Cobb, President
The Family Foundation of America

On this date in 1786, the Virginia General Assembly enacted one of the most important initiatives in our nation’s history – the Statue for Religious Freedom. Today, Governor Bob McDonnell issued a proclamation celebrating the Statute and Senator’s Bill Stanley (R-20, Moneta) and Delegate Chris Peace (R-97, Hanover) gave speeches in their respective chambers to bring attention to this day.

This amendment to our state Constitution was the foundation for our First Freedom as defined in the U.S. Constitution a few years later. Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the Statute recognizes that our right to exercise our faith “can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and, therefore, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience.” It adds, “No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain their opinions in matters of religion, and the same shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.”

As attacks on the religious liberty of Americans continue to grow, it is important to remember the real meaning of the term and take the opportunity to educate our friends and neighbors who may be buying into some of the secular left’s notion of “separation of church and state.” For example, we often call our First Freedom a “Constitutional right to religious freedom,” but the reality is that this freedom comes from God and is simply to be protected by the Constitution; it doesn’t come from our Constitution.

It is important to note that we have the freedom to be involved in “civil capacities” and express our “opinions in matters of religion” in these capacities. This is particularly important to remember as the radical secular left in Virginia has attacked us for our support of pro-life and pro-family legislation as a violation of “separation,” something that flies in the face not just of the Statute but over 230 years of American history. This is not only our right, it's our duty.

This year, we are supporting initiatives that we hope will restore the real meaning of Jefferson’s Statute. One, an amendment to the state Constitution by Senator Stanley (working with Senator Bill Carrico (R-40, Galax), would seek to reestablish our rights as citizens to pray at public government meetings, a longstanding tradition that the secular left has sought to stop, successfully in many cases, throughout Virginia.

Of course, one major threat to the freedom of all Americans is the federal government’s mandate that citizens fund the birth control of others through President Obama’s health insurance scheme, a mandate that is currently being challenged in nearly 30 lawsuits across the nation. While the secular left and abortion industry call this mandate about “access” to birth control, the truth is that it requires a redefinition of the word access to mean “paid for by somebody else at the expense of their freedom of conscience.”