Archbishop Chaput Among Signatories on New Joint Statement on Religious Liberty

Archbishop Charles Chaput, archbishop of Philadelphia, was among five signatories on a new statement on religious liberty, published today by Public Discourse, the online publication of the Witherspoon Institute.

Noting that there has been a great deal of mistruth over the past several days surrounding legal efforts to protect religious freedom in Indiana, Archbishop Chaput joined with other religious and moral leaders to urge Americans to remember the moral roots of their constitutional system, and to engage in a sensible national conversation about religious liberty.

Also signing the joint statement were Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore; Professor Robert George of Princeton University; Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; and Russell Moore, President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention.

The statement says, in part:

In recent days we have heard claims that a belief central to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—that we are created male and female, and that marriage unites these two basic expressions of humanity in a unique covenant—amounts to a form of bigotry. Such arguments only increase public confusion on a vitally important issue. When basic moral convictions and historic religious wisdom rooted in experience are deemed “discrimination,” our ability to achieve civic harmony, or even to reason clearly, is impossible.

America was founded on the idea that religious liberty matters because religious belief matters in a uniquely life-giving and powerful way. We need to take that birthright seriously, or we become a people alien to our own founding principles. Religious liberty is precisely what allows a pluralistic society to live together in peace.

Read the rest here.