Conversation: Religious Freedom

Religious liberty issues have come to the forefront of public debate once again in response to many recent court rulings. The most recent of these is the Alabama State Supreme Court ruling on the personhood of embryos which they decided, at least in part, based on “the theologically based view of the sanctity of life adopted by the People of Alabama.” The ruling references the Manhattan Declaration, which was signed by “Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians” and quotes extensively from the Bible.

On the surface at least, it appears that the court’s justices are assuming that the United States is a Christian country. At this meeting we’ll ask whether we believe this to be true, along with other questions such as:

• What do you understand religious freedom to mean in an American context?
• Is religious freedom different from separation of church and state?
• When the exercise of religion conflicts with other rights or freedoms, how do you balance them?

Join the Crossing Party Lines discussion and have a voice in our Nation’s Conversation! People of all views are welcomed, appreciated, and heard.

Please do your best to arrive at the beginning of the meeting – once we are in breakout rooms and the conversations have started, the meeting doors close to new arrivals. The breakout rooms open (and the doors close) approximately 15 minutes after the hour.

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