Religious FreedomWhat’s at stake.

What to say.When and how to say it.

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Religious Freedom Under Attack

• Affordable Care Act mandating across the board coverage that includes abortifacient drugs, sterilization procedures, etc. that are contrary to Catholic morals.

• Diminishing ability of faithful believers to opt out of providing direct services to morally offensive situations, e.g. New Mexico photographer fined for not shooting a gay marriage, nurse in NYC forced to assist with an abortion, etc.

• Increased intolerance of mention or demonstration of religious beliefs in public schools and venues.

(Lesbian Couple) We are researching potential photographers for our commitment ceremony on September 15, 2007 in Taos, NM. This is a same-gender ceremony. If you are open to helping us celebrate our day we'd like to receive pricing information.

ThanksAnd the reply they got:Hello Vanessa, As a company, we photograph traditional weddings, engagements, seniors, and

several other things such as political photographs and singer's portfolios. ElaineThe exchange continued:Hi Elaine,Thanks for your response below of September 21, 2006. I'm a bit confused, however, by the wording

of your response. Are you saying that your company does not offer your photography services to same-sex couples?

Thanks,Vanessa

And the clarification:Hello Vanessa,Sorry if our last response was a confusing one. Yes, you are correct in saying we do not photograph

same-sex weddings, but again, thanks for checking out our site! Have a great day.ElaineThe New Mexico Human Rights Commission went on to explain that "Ms. Willock was shocked,

angered and saddened to receive Ms. Elaine Huguenin's response. Ms. Willock was also fearful, because she considered the opposition to same-sex to be so blatant. Ms. Willock thought that Ms. Elaine Huguenin's response was an expression of hatred at what Ms. Willock had hoped to be a happy occasion."

The Email Exchange That Set Off the New Mexico $7,000 Fine Against the Christian Photographer

Rising Threats to American Religious Freedom

• Attacks On The Freedom Of Americans Of Faith To Form Religious Organizations And Other Associations

• Government Mandates To Provide Products And Services That Violate Religious Convictions

• State Laws That Criminalize The Care And Shelter Of Illegal Immigrants• Violations Of The Conscience Rights Of Students, Health Care Workers, And Other

Professionals• Stripping The Public Square Of Religious Symbols And Expression• State Constitutional Provisions Rooted In Discrimination Against Faith Communities• Discrimination Against Houses Of Worship Seeking To Exercise Rights To Use

Privately Owned Property Or Enjoy Equal Access To Public Property• Redefinitions Of Anti-discrimination Law That Lack Robust Protections For Religious

Freedom• Discrimination Against Faith-based Providers• Public Censure Of Policy Arguments Informed By Religious Beliefs

• (From Rising Threats to American Religious Freedom The Ethics and Public Policy Center and The Becket Fund)

What Can We Do?

• Speak up for and demand our rights• First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

• Know the difference between discrimination and religious freedom.

Some Implications of the Right to Religious Freedom

• The right not to be forced by civil or criminal penalties to act against one’s conscience, or prevented from acting in accordance with it, within the just limits of public order.

• The freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest (one’s) religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. (United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

• There should be no obstacles should (one) eventually wish to belong to another religion or profess none at all. (Pope Benedict XVI’s 2011 message for the World day of Peace, Religious Freedom, Path to Peace.)

Need to anticipate the difficult points and questions – which are many surrounding this issue: Discrimination vs. religious freedom, intolerance vs. religious freedom, Hate speech/crimes vs. free speech

Remember Ten Principles of Civil Communication

• Look for the positive intention behind the criticism.• Shed light, not heat.• People won’t remember what you said as much as how

you made them feel.• Think in triangles.• Be positive.• Show, don’t tell.• Be compassionate.• Check your facts, but avoid robotics.• It’s not about you.• Witnessing, not winning.

Review Messaging

What is messaging? • Communications tool that makes concepts or

organizations better known and understood by the general public.

Why do we need to learn this?• To defend and make our Judeo-Christian/Natural law

vision of life better known and understood by others, whether they agree with us or not.

• To learn how to begin to drown ignorance with an abundance of truth.

• To address, indeed take advantage of, increased curiosity, conversation and controversy around issues that have great importance in forming culture.

Challenging Questions

• Why should the Church be allowed to discriminate against gay people when the law forbids it?

• If Catholic adoption agencies don’t want to obey the law, why should they then have access to public funds?

• Why should the Church be allowed to impose its narrow view of the family through taxpayer-funded services? (e.g., healthcare services, universities, etc.) (questions taken from How to Defend the Faith Without Raising Your Voice – Austen Ivereigh)

• If Catholics are opposed to artificial contraception and sterilization, then they can abstain, but why should they be allowed to opt out of paying into a system that provides these services to a larger population which wants them? If people who live in a particular town do not like the public school system and choose to educate their children elsewhere, that does not mean they should be allowed to opt out of paying the taxes to the town where they live.

• Let’s Focus For Now on The HHS Mandate. Handouts.

Key Messages in General about Religious Freedom and Principle of Equality

• The modern principle of equality has its roots in the Christian principle that all people are of equal value; this principle underlies the abolition of the slave trade and the civil-rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s. The Catholic Church is globally one of the leading advocates of equality and rights — for the elderly, the unborn, immigrants, women, and gay people. The Church does not oppose equality, but finds itself opposed to the way equality laws are sometimes implemented in the modern era in ways that negatively affect other rights and freedoms.

• Protecting minorities from unjust discrimination is one of the major tasks of the modern state. They remain fully subject to the law, but the law treats them differently.

• When the Church asks for exemptions, it is not trying to condition the law in accordance with its beliefs (“imposing its views”) but appealing to a well-established principle in modern democracy and European rights law — the need to protect, in law, the freedom to associate and to manifest belief, which is the key principle underlying the U.S. Constitution. The corollary of a vigorous civil society is religious freedom.

• ((messages taken from How to Defend the Faith Without Raising Your Voice – Austen Ivereigh))

Resources

• Talking points: Women and Religious Freedom (Handout) website: www.womenspeakforthemselves.com

• Talking points: HHS Mandate and Religious Freedom (Handout) website: www.womenspeakforthemselves.com

• Talking points regarding HHS mandate and our response (Handout) (Priests for Life)

• Brief 10 minute video with Former Utah Supreme Court Justice Dallin H. Oaks (an Elder of the Mormon Church) – excellent primer on US Constitution, religious freedom and what’s at stake

• Brief video on religious freedom, mix of interview subjects

• The silent war on religious liberty, a speech by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (February 21, 2014)

• Refusing to Photograph a Gay Wedding Isn’t Hateful. By Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic (March 6, 2014)

• Rising Threats to American Religious Freedom (Handout) The Ethics and Public Policy Center, and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty