Civil Rights, Equality, and Social Movements
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Mar 4 – Apr 7
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Religious exemptions allow individuals and organizations to be exempt from following certain generally applicable laws that they say burden their religious beliefs. Religious exemptions have been at the heart of some recent high profile Supreme Court cases as the court continues to vigorous debate what the scope of religious exemptions should be and in what instances they should be granted.
James Madison wrote, concerning religious liberty, that the opinions and belief of men depend not on their own will, but follow involuntarily the evidence proposed to their minds, and it is for that reason that freedom of conscience is an unalienable right. In essence, I cannot alienate to you the power to control my thoughts, because I am unable to entirely control them myself. They are the product of my reason and reflection. Therefore conscience (religious liberty) is unalienable.
Some scholars of the Bill of Rights argue that, in the founders understanding, the government lacks jurisdiction over religious exercises as such, hence the free exercise clause. For example, the government does not issue preaching licenses because government doesn’t have authority to issue such licenses while it can for cosmetology or for being a server in a restaurant. Others argue that the free exercise clause inherently includes exemptions for religious/moral beliefs. For instance, if you are a cake baker and are asked to bake a wedding cake (a service you provide) you should be able to deny service based on religious and/or moral beliefs concerning the marring couple. This is normally thought of in situations concerning LGBTQ couples, but in 2019 an interracial couple in Mississippi was denied access to a wedding venue (Boone’s Camp Event Hall) based on “sincerely held religious beliefs.”
The question here is, if a person’s religious beliefs conflict with the law or lead to bias against other groups, should the government protect the exercise of those beliefs? Why or why not? Are religious/moral exemptions ever appropriate/inappropriate? Under which circumstances? Provide a defense of your position and include citations for sources. Be sure to base your answer in fact and logic/reason.
