The separation of church and state protects everyone’s right to live as themself and believe as they choose as long as they don’t harm others. That means we can’t force our beliefs on others or discriminate against them because they believe differently.
Think of it like this: Someone may believe vanilla is the best flavor and only eats things that are vanilla flavored. They have the right to believe that and live by that belief. But they can’t make you believe vanilla is the best flavor, force you to only eat vanilla-flavored things, or discriminate against you because you prefer chocolate.
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To live in a pluralistic democracy, we agree to follow certain rules to ensure fairness and equality for everyone. When religious extremists create laws or policies that impose their narrow beliefs on us all, they are violating the separation of church and state and harming others. Most of the time people’s religious beliefs are likely to align with our democratic laws. But sometimes personal religious convictions conflict with certain laws or policies. When this happens, we must still follow the laws of our democracy, when those laws are protecting others from harm, such as discrimination. Religious freedom does not include the ability to harm other people or violate their rights.
White Christian Nationalists and other religious extremists have used and continue to use their narrow beliefs to justify all types of discrimination – against Black and brown people, LGBTQ+ people, women, religious minorities, the non-religious and any marginalized groups that don’t follow their beliefs. Weaponizing religious freedom as a license to discriminate affects all of us.
We need a national recommitment to the separation of church and state, which allows us all to come together as equals to build a stronger democracy.
Our nation promises everyone the freedom to believe as they want, but our laws cannot allow anyone to use their religious beliefs to harm others.
That’s why Americans United brings together people of all religions and none to fight in the courts, legislatures, and the public square for freedom without favor and equality without exception.
When you join the Action Network, you will be notified of actions you can take in your community to protect church-state separation. These actions can include legislative and legal advocacy, outreach opportunities, invitations to attend special meetings, briefings, and training sessions. AU also provides virtual opportunities to hone your skills as an advocate.
You’ll receive 6-12 messages per year. Just look for [AU-AN] in the subject line and take the actions that are right for you!
