"Proclaim LIBERTY thruout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."—Jehovah.
RELIGIOUS Liberty is the birthright of mankind. It is the opposite of religious intolerance and of the tyranny of a State religion. It is the ripe fruit of the teachings of the word of God concerning individualism and the rights of conscience. It is the tardy response of civilization to the stifled cries of the martyrs of all ages.
Briefly expressed, Religious Liberty is "freedom of religious opinion and worship as one's conscience may dictate" (Standard Dictionary). Or, it may be defined as "the right of every individual to worship according to the dictates of his own conscience; or not to worship at all, if he so chooses."
Religious freedom, according to another authority, "consists in the right guaranteed by the laws of a country to each one of its citizens to maintain and propagate any religious opinion, and to celebrate any form of worship he may think proper."
A Natural, Fundamental Right.
Religious liberty involves that which can not be settled by majorities. It is a gift of God, a natural, fundamental, and inalienable right of every man. In the words of the immortal American Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
Speaking of these natural rights of man, a committee of the United States Senate said, in 1829: "They are not exercised in virtue of governmental indulgence, but as rights, of which government can not deprive any portion of citizens, however small. Despotic power may invade those rights, but justice still confirms them."
God granted to man that liberty of choice which is essential to true worship and moral responsibility. In the words of Jefferson, "the God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time." Our Creator is the Author of Liberty in religious affairs, as is witnessed by the very existence of sin itself, the result of man's original choice not to serve Him. The following pertinent sentiments of Jefferson give added emphasis to this great truth:
"Almighty God hath created the mind free; all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the holy Author of our religion, who being Lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercion on either, as was in His almighty power to do."
Religious Liberty the Separation of Church and State.
The testimony of history is that all religious persecution is the result of a union of the spiritual and the temporal power, of the Church and the State. Religious freedom, therefore, is the direct result of the separation of these two powers. In fact, it may be said that Religious Liberty is the separation of Church and State—a doctrine founded upon the teachings of Jesus Christ.
The Divine Definition.
The first formulated protest against the union of Church and State was made by Jesus Christ, the head of the Christian Church. He thus defined religious liberty: "RENDER TO CAESAR THE THINGS THAT ARE CAESAR'S, AND TO GOD THE THINGS THAT ARE GOD'S" (Mark 12:17). His theory also provided liberty for those who did not see fit to believe the doctrines of His Church; for He said: "If any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not (John 12:47).
Limitations of Religious Liberty.
The religious rights of every person are limited only by the civil rights of others. The following from the report of the United States Senate Committee (1829) further defines these limitations of the exercise of religious liberty:
"Whatever may be the religious sentiments of citizens, and however variant, they are alike entitled to protection from the government, SO LONG AS THEY DO NOT INVADE THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS."
For its own protection, civil government may thus forbid and punish overt acts of a so-called religion which would undermine the foundations of society, such as licentious rites, bloody human sacrifices, polygamy, and other uncivil or criminal acts. This is in harmony with the legal maxim: "Sic utere tuum, ut alienum non laedas" (So use your own that you may not injure another's).
The Offspring of Protestantism.
The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century was based upon the teachings of the word of God as against the teachings of men. This word taught religious freedom and the rights of the individual. The famous Protest of the German Princes at the Diet of Spires (April 19, 1529) was, among other things, a protest against the union of Church and State. It vigorously opposed two abuses of man in matters of religion: (1) the intrusion of the civil magistrate, or the State, and (2) the arbitrary authority of the Catholic Church. In short, it "rejected the civil power in divine things." This Protest, and the wave of Reformation that followed, were thus the genesis of religious toleration in Europe and religious liberty in America.
Toleration Not Religious Liberty.
Toleration is the stepping-stone from religious persecution to religious liberty. It now exists in all the nations of Europe, thanks to the influence of the Reformation and the powerful example of the United States.
The perfect union of Church and State produced Persecution; their imperfect, or relaxed union, Toleration, and their total separation, Religious Liberty.
To tolerate is "to suffer to remain, exist, or take place without active opposition or prohibition; treat with forbearance; passively permit or put up with." An act of toleration is "a grant of the civil government, which authorizes religious societies dissenting from the State religion to worship according to the dictates of conscience without liability to persecution."
Toleration presupposes a religion supported by the State, and the control of public worship by the State. Religious Liberty states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,5or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" (United States Constitution). Toleration is a concession, Religious Liberty an inherent right. Toleration is a mere matter of expediency; religious freedom, a matter of principle. The one is a temporary gift of man, the other the eternal gift of God.
Under Toleration the believers of one religion are taxed for the support of another; under Religious Liberty no one is obliged to support any church. Under Toleration only those supporting the State religion may aspire to offices of public trust; under Religious Liberty the Constitution provides that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."
The transition from religious intolerance to liberty is fully, yet briefly, described in these few words: "Toleration is first sought and granted as a favor, then demanded and conceded as a right, and at last spurned as an insult." Free men want no toleration. The waves of freedom sweep away state-churchism, tolerated sects, churchmen, and dissenters, placing all religious beliefs on a common footing, in harmony with the immortal sentiment of U. S. Grant: "Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private school, supported entirely by private contribution. Keep the State and the Church forever separate."
Instinct of Liberty.
Is there a brilliant fondling of the cage,
The sure of plaudits on his costly stage,
The fed with dainties from the snow-white hand
Of a kind mistress, fairest of the land,
But gladly would escape; and, if need were,
Scatter the colors from the plumes that bear
The emancipated captive thru blithe air
Into strange woods, where he at large may live
On best or worst which they and nature give?
The beetle loves his unpretending track,
The snail the house he carries on his back;
The far-fetched worm with pleasure would disown
The bed we give him, tho of softest down;
A noble instinct; in all kinds the same,
All rank! What sovereign, worthy of the name,
If doomed to breathe against his lawful will
An element that flatters him—to kill,
But would rejoice to barter outward show
For the least boon that freedom can bestow?
