The President's "Religious Freedom Day" Proclamation

It's available here.  It is, of course, not a secret that I believe the current Administration has not done well at protecting, respecting, and really grasping what religous freedom is and why it matters.  That said, it can only be a good thing if words like these are coming from our President (any President):

America proudly stands with people of every nation who seek to think, believe, and practice their faiths as they choose. In the years to come, my Administration will remain committed to promoting religious freedom, both at home and across the globe. We urge every country to recognize religious freedom as both a universal right and a key to a stable, prosperous, and peaceful future.

I am, I admit, nervous about language like this, from last year's Proclamation:

Foremost among the rights Americans hold sacred is the freedom to worship as we choose. 

Like Leslie Ford (here), I think it is very important to push back against suggestions that "religious freedom" is merely about the "freedom to worship" -- as Ford put it (in 2013), "[r]eligious freedom is not just for weekends in your home or place or worship. It’s a freedom that allows individuals to live out their beliefs and values every day of the week."  But, I think it is worth hoping that the omission of "freedom to worship" language, and the use of "practice" instead, in this year's Proclamation is a good sign.

As my former student, at the Becket Fund, Adele Auxier Kleim, notes:

After a misstep last year, this year President Obama issued a proclamation calling religious freedom a “critical foundation of our Nation’s liberty,” and quoting Thomas Jefferson, who “declared religious liberty a natural right and any attempt to subvert it ‘a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion, who being Lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either.’”

And, here's more from Eric Treene (DOJ) and Melissa Rogers (White House), focusing on the good and important work done through RLUIPA.  

Raise a glass to Religious Freedom Day!