Are You Aware? The Critical Role of Minority Beliefs

“Religious Freedom” by sniggie is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

This is part III in our “Freedom of Religion” Awareness Wednesday series. Read the other posts in the series here.

One of the best stories from the early days of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is about someone who was not a member of our church but instead a brigadier general in the Missouri militia during the “Mormon War” in 1838.

“Soon after Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs issued his Mormon Extermination Order of 27 October 1838, which declared that ‘the Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state,’ Brigadier General Alexander W. Doniphan received the following order from his superior officer: ’You will take Joseph Smith and the other prisoners into the public square of Far West, and shoot them at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning.’ To this command, General Doniphan replied: ‘It is cold-blooded murder. I will not obey your order. My brigade shall march for Liberty tomorrow morning, at 8 o’clock; and if you execute these men, I will hold you responsible before an earthly tribunal, so help me God.’”

Joseph Smith and other church leaders’ lives were spared that day. Instead, they were put in Liberty Jail to await trial. Alexander Doniphan became their defense attorney, most likely at the risk of his reputation and his life.

Many of the events that took place in those early days of our church remind us that our laws have not always given the protections of religious freedom that they promise. Over time, it has been our religious minorities that have pushed us to establish the expanded religious freedom and religious tolerance we experience today. Religious minorities have played a crucial role in shaping our laws in this area through their claims against the majority.

Today, the Baptist religion is the largest of the Protestant churches in the U.S. But that was not true in colonial times nor during the early history of our country. Unlike some of the other Protestant religions during that period, they were not the dominant religion of any colony or state. At that time they were always in the minority and were often treated as second-class citizens. Many were imprisoned for their views and practices and considered “religious dissenters.”

It was a Baptist pastor, Isaac Backus, who “became a well-known advocate of religious liberty and tolerance in the years leading up to and immediately after the American Revolution.” Using the works of Roger Williams and John Locke (who introduced the concept of a society being more stable with religious tolerance and diversity), Backus actively promoted the idea of separation of church and state.

This was a new idea. Historical perspective showed the stability of a country or community was nearly always thought to be correlated with the citizens being of the same religion. Religious diversity was thought to weaken a nation. History has many examples of any rejection of the majority religion, by groups or individuals, being viewed as disloyalty to the county.

Given this historical view of unity in religion, Isaac Backus’ efforts were often seen as “an attempt to disrupt colonial unity by introducing extraneous and contentious issues.” Regardless, Backus and other Baptists continued to petition and spread their ideas of separation of church and state. Backus’ main argument was that “religion is ever a matter between God and individuals.” What had been a small minority religion fighting for more equal status eventually helped shape our country’s ideas of the role of religion needing to be separate from the government of our nation.

Over time, many different court cases involving minority religions defending their rights have molded the religious freedom protections we enjoy today. Here are just a few examples:

Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940) is about Jehovah’s Witnesses going door to door and approaching people on the street, which got them arrested and charged. This case eventually went to the Supreme Court, which found this violated their First Amendment rights of free speech. While the court case only involved one minority religion, the ruling had major implications for other religions, including for our own Latter-day Saint missionaries.

Sherbert v. Verner (1963) is about a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This case helped establish three elements of a law that determine when the government has violated an individual’s right to free exercise of religion.

Cruz v. Beto, which involved a Buddhist, established the rights of prisoners to reasonable opportunities to practice their religion and worship.

Pierce v. Society of Sisters eliminated the law that required students to only attend public schools and paved the way for religiously oriented private schools.

The U.S. is even diverse in its number of different Christian religions. No one religion dominates. Even religions with a majority in one area, like Latter-day Saints in Utah, are in the minority in most other parts of the country. It is in the best interest of each religion to protect the rights of minority sects.

With the progress we have made, it is easy to lose sight of the mistakes that have been made along the way — and the ways in which we still need to improve. For instance, as one of our Native members recently reminded us, our country has a long history of fighting against Native religion. As recently as last year, Native religious rights were set aside in the construction of the southern border wall. Our commitment to religious liberty has been inadequate when a minority is seen as unfamiliar.

Recent studies have shown there is actually a strong correlation between protection of religious freedom/tolerance for all beliefs and the positive stability and productivity of a nation or community. Religious tolerance helps to reduce corruption by allowing faith-based ethics to be voiced, engender peace by defusing religious tensions (which reduces religion-related violence and conflict), encourage broader freedoms, and increase trust among people whose faith and beliefs are respected, etc.

We need more people with the quality of character and integrity that Alexander Doniphan displayed. We can all strengthen our communities by speaking out and standing up for minorities wherever we see injustice. As Bryan Stevenson has said, let us all be “stone catchers” for each other.