‘Conscience’ didn’t make the cut for the First Amendment.

Society & Culture

Religious Liberty

U.S. Constitution

“…. the Senate adopted the first two parts of the House version but dropped ‘nor shall the rights of conscience be infringed.’ After that, a direct protection of the individual right of conscience never reappeared in the language of the final religion clauses.” - TGC

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Thu, 01/20/22

I never knew Jan 16 was “religious freedom day.” I’m not sure I’ve ever even heard of religious freedom day before. Maybe I’m just forgetting.

Anyway, the post is a good overview of some important realities of American religious liberty, some of which are frequently overlooked…

5. ‘Free exercise’ applies to the head and heart but not always the hands.
“Free exercise” is the freedom of every American to determine their religious beliefs according to the dictates of conscience. The Supreme Court has interpreted free exercise to mean that while any individual may believe anything they want, there may be times when the state can limit or interfere with practices that result from those beliefs. The determination of when protected religious beliefs result in protected religious action resulted in a range of religious freedom exemptions.
6. American history has seen four periods of religious freedom exemptions. …

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.