The Fourth of July is a time to reflect on one of our most
cherished freedoms: religious liberty, a freedom too often taken for granted.
We sometimes mistakenly equate religious freedom only with the freedom of
worship, that is, the freedom to practice religion in our churches, synagogues
and mosques, but not in the public arena. But such a narrow and private
“freedom” is not what our founding fathers sacrificed so mightily to win for
us. Instead, they envisioned a vigorous and expansive religious freedom that
guarantees every American, every religious community the right to bring our
faith into public life, business, politics—and every aspect of our lives as
believers and as citizens of this great nation. This Fourth of July, may we
celebrate religious freedom. May we defend it always for what it is:
America’s first freedom.
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