What Religious Liberty at Home Has to Do With Persecution Overseas

Current Events, ,

Many people in American–both Christians and non-Christians–have asserted Christians should not complain about infringements of religious liberty in America, because Christians in places like Syria or Iraq are being persecuted so mercilessly.

John Stonestreet at the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview has recorded a short, compelling commentary on why religious liberty here in America goes hand-in-hand with ending the persecution Christians face from groups like ISIS.

Stonestreet writes,

“What’s at work here is a kind of false dilemma that one of my colleagues refers to as the Starving-Children-In-Africa fallacy. ‘There are problems in the world worse than yours,” goes the fallacy, “so your problems are not worth caring about or solving.’

“What this false dilemma misses is that the actor most capable of addressing the persecution faced by our brothers and sisters overseas is the United States. And if the United States takes the lead in addressing the issue, it’s in large measure because of religious voices in the public square that are calling for action and seeking to influence public opinion. And without religious liberty, religious voices will be dismissed from the public square, and will be unheard.”

You can listen to Stonestreet’s entire commentary below or read it here.

[audio:http://bit.ly/1BYSHN7|Titles=The bogus argument]

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Setting the Record Straight on Religious Freedom Bill HB1228

Legislature, , ,

Yesterday, retail giant Walmart issued a statement against HB1228, the Conscience Protection Act by Rep. Ballinger and Sen. Hester. A Walmart spokesman said the legislation runs counter to Walmart’s “core basic belief of respect for the individual” and that the legislation “sends the wrong message about Arkansas.”

This morning the bill narrowly failed in the Senate Judiciary Committee, but it can be brought back up for another vote. It is essential that your senator hears from you. Your senator must know you support this bill. Please call your Arkansas Senator at (501) 682-2902, and ask him or her to support House Bill 1228, the Conscience Protection Act by Rep. Ballinger and Sen. Hester.

You can also call Governor Hutchinson’s office at (501) 682-2345, and ask him to support the bill.

Our lawmakers are hearing a lot of misinformation about this bill. Besides Walmart, the Association of Counties, the Municipal League, and others have made incorrect assertions about what the Conscience Protection Act does.

We want to set the record straight. Here are three facts about the bill:

Fact #1: HB1228 is almost identical to religious freedom legislation passed in 20 states. Alabamans even went so far as to write the language into their state constitution in 1998. Additionally, most states that do not have a religious freedom protection law on the books have a court ruling of some sort protecting religious freedom. Arkansas is one of only 11 states without a state law or court ruling affirming the free exercise of religion.

Fact #2: Laws like HB1228 trigger very few lawsuits. From 1993 to 2014, 20 states passed laws similar to HB1228. According to attorneys we have spoken with, only 146 lawsuits have been filed citing these religious freedom laws, nationwide. That’s 146 cases, nationwide, over the course of 22 years. Of those cases, the vast majority of the religious freedom claims were dismissed in court. Religious freedom laws have not led to a flood of litigation anywhere else. There is no reason to think Arkansas will be any different.

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U.S. Catholic Bishops Release “Faithful Citizenship” Guide

Current Events,

This week, Bishop Anthony Taylor of the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock cited the “Faithful Citizenship” document released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in a homily posted on The Arkansas Catholic‘s website.

In his homily, Bishop Taylor said,

“To help us sort out what to do, the bishops of the United States issue — or re-issue — for every election cycle a ‘Faithful Citizenship’ document to help us make a prudential judgment regarding how best to ‘Give to God what is God’s’ in the difficult and confusing choices before us. This is not just a matter of opposing evil; it also requires that we work actively to do good.”

The Conference of Catholic Bishops offers the document in two forms: A short summary and a lengthier Call to Political Responsibility.

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