Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Religious Freedom Day and the Governor of Alabama
Sunday was Religious Freedom Day and, as Charles Haynes argues in his syndicated column, religious freedom is mainly in trouble around the world. See here. Despite the Court's infamous decision in Employment Division v. Smith, religion is relatively free in the United States. Nonetheless, there are some grounds for despair even in circumstances where the case for constitutional protection is problematic. As David Gibson reports in Politics Daily, Alabama's new governor Robert Bentley stated on Martin Luther King Day that he intended to be the governor of all the people, but if anybody had not accepted Jesus Christ as personal saviour, then you are "not my brother and not my sister." It would be difficult to fault those Jews and Muslims in Alabama who believe that they have been marked out as second class citizens.
https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2011/01/religious-freedom-day-and-the-governor-of-alabama.html
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Did the people of Alabama elect the governor as Big Brother/Big Sister? I don't think that's part of the job description. So no citizen of Alabama has any claim on his sense of Brotherhood. On the contrary, since he is reciting his religious beliefs of Religious Freedom Day, it is not the personal rights of the Muslims and Jews in Alabama that is at stake, it is the gorvernor's freedom of conscience that is on the line.
The voices of protest have one thing in common: they are afraid that the governor doesn't like them. He would deny that, but that is what the claim is and what they want to make the issue. So what? Since when is the governor required to like anyone? He is a public official, invested with authority and public duties to the state. If he can carry out the demands of office without liking anyone, that is all that one can ask. The protest comes from people who don't seem to understand our form of government. The governor isn't the king, who governs with discretion. "Governor" for us is s job. All that is required is that the holder do his job. If he doesn't, for whatever reason, and if the rights of some citizens are denied, then they have recourse in court.
The issue here is whether we have a government of men or a government of laws.
It goes without saying that now that they know his views of who are his brothers and sisters, the Muslims and Jews would never vote for him. So, let them find a friendlier candidate next time. But the governor is not some kind of statewide Sheikh, doing favors for people he likes or whom he considers to be his extended family. In America, the citizens are permitted to have religious convictions. As a result, to separate state and religion in a way they protesters demand would not be separation of church and state, it would be separation of the citizens from the state. That indeed is precisely the point that the governor is trying to make.