|
|
MELISSA ROGERS
Today's guest blogger is Melissa Rogers, who directs the Center for Religion and Public Affairs at the Wake Forest University Divinity School. For an essay by Rogers on the planned Islamic center in New York City, click here.
Is there a Christian case for defending the free exercise rights of Muslims? With anti-mosque protests flaring in some communities across America, it's a timely topic. As a Christian, and more specifically, as a Baptist, my answer to this question is an emphatic "yes."
Jesus said: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39) Part of loving our neighbors as we would like to be loved is protecting our neighbors' ability to practice their faith. If we lived in a Muslim-majority country, wouldn't we ask the government to respect our rights to practice the Christian faith and be deeply grateful when Muslim neighbors came to our aid? Then we should do likewise here. And wouldn't we insist on equal rights to religious exercise, not some kind of second-class status or mere toleration by government? What we would demand for ourselves, we must demand for others.
The Bible also tells us that God's design is for each person to have the freedom to make decisions about faith. God did not create robots but rather individuals who are capable of thinking, feeling, and responding. It is this freedom to choose that makes religious commitments meaningful. Attempts to coerce people on matters of faith interfere with God's plan and with the formation of authentic decisions.
Government meddling in this sphere is particularly noxious. The state has enormous coercive power. And one of its chief responsibilities is to safeguard our freedoms. So when the government interferes with religious exercise, whether by clamping down on free exercise generally or on the exercise of some faiths in particular, Christians should sound the alarm and make it clear that the government has overstepped its bounds.
There is no contradiction between calling on the government to protect the free exercise rights of all people and sharing the gospel. Both are essential, and both may be practiced simultaneously. Indeed, defending free exercise rights for everyone sends a powerful message of love and confidence in one's faith. Likewise, calling for equality in religious liberty certainly is not the same as saying that all religions are equally true. Instead, it's a call for government to leave theological judgments and other religious matters in the hands of people of faith and their communities.
Click here to continue reading.
