{"id":30872,"date":"2012-08-02T10:06:01","date_gmt":"2012-08-02T15:06:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?p=30872"},"modified":"2012-07-29T10:49:53","modified_gmt":"2012-07-29T15:49:53","slug":"speaking-of-douthat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2012\/08\/02\/speaking-of-douthat\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaking of Douthat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Yesterday we bounced off of a recent book and post by Ross Douthat (and also Diana Butler Bass), and today Douthat is back<\/strong><\/a>, and this time he\u2019s complaining about a lack of a sense of genuine religious freedom among what he calls the \u201cleadership class\u201d:<\/p>\n

What do you think? Do you believe some of the President\u2019s and America\u2019s actions are violations of rights or do you think these have been the inevitable to-and-fro of balancing rights and toleration?<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE words \u201cfreedom of belief\u201d do not appear in the First Amendment. Nor do the words \u201cfreedom of worship.\u201d Instead, the Bill of Rights guarantees Americans something that its authors called \u201cthe free exercise\u201d of religion.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a significant choice of words, because it suggests a recognition that religious faith cannot be reduced to a purely private or individual affair. Most religious communities conceive of themselves as peoples or families, and the requirements of most faiths extend well beyond attendance at a sabbath service \u2014 encompassing charity and activism, education and missionary efforts, and other \u201cexercises\u201d that any guarantee of religious freedom must protect.<\/p>\n

I cannot improve upon the way the first lady of the United States explained this issue, speaking recently to a conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. \u201cOur faith journey<\/a>\u00a0isn\u2019t just about showing up on Sunday,\u201d Michelle Obama said. \u201cIt\u2019s about what we do Monday through Saturday as well \u2026 Jesus didn\u2019t limit his ministry to the four walls of the church. He was out there fighting injustice and speaking truth to power every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Mrs. Obama\u2019s words notwithstanding, there seems to be a great deal of confusion about this point in the Western leadership class today\u2026.<\/p>\n

It may seem strange that anyone could look around the pornography-saturated, fertility-challenged, family-breakdown-plagued West and see a society menaced by a repressive puritanism. But it\u2019s clear that this perspective is widely and sincerely held.<\/p>\n

It would be refreshing, though, if it were expressed honestly, without the \u201cof course we respect religious freedom\u201d facade.<\/p>\n

If you want to fine Catholic hospitals for following Catholic teaching, or prevent Jewish parents from circumcising their sons, or ban Chick-fil-A in Boston, then don\u2019t tell religious people that you respect our freedoms. Say what you really think: that the exercise of our religion threatens all that\u2019s good and decent, and that you\u2019re going to use the levers of power to bend us to your will.<\/p>\n

There, didn\u2019t that feel better? Now we can get on with the fight.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday we bounced off of a recent book and post by Ross Douthat (and also Diana Butler Bass), and today Douthat is back, and this time he\u2019s complaining about a lack of a sense of genuine religious freedom among what he calls the \u201cleadership class\u201d: What do you think? Do you believe some of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1732],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-public-issues"],"yoast_head":"\nSpeaking of Douthat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Yesterday we bounced off of a recent book and post by Ross Douthat (and also Diana Butler Bass), and today Douthat is back, and this time he's complaining\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2012\/08\/02\/speaking-of-douthat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Speaking of Douthat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yesterday we bounced off of a recent book and post by Ross Douthat (and also Diana Butler Bass), and today Douthat is back, and this time he's complaining\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2012\/08\/02\/speaking-of-douthat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-08-02T15:06:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-07-29T15:49:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2012\/08\/02\/speaking-of-douthat\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2012\/08\/02\/speaking-of-douthat\/\",\"name\":\"Speaking of Douthat\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-08-02T15:06:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-07-29T15:49:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"Yesterday we bounced off of a recent book and post by Ross Douthat (and also Diana Butler Bass), and today Douthat is back, and this time he's complaining\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2012\/08\/02\/speaking-of-douthat\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2012\/08\/02\/speaking-of-douthat\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2012\/08\/02\/speaking-of-douthat\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Speaking of Douthat\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. 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