Despite Andrew Koppelman’s good-faith efforts, he has not accurately stated important, fundamental convictions of religious liberty proponents concerning the character of moral reasoning and the nature of law.
Category: Conscience Protection
Conscience Protection
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Suing for Peace in the Wedding Vendor Wars
Andrew Koppelman surely is correct that a same-sex couple must find it humiliating and embarrassing to be turned away from a wedding vendor. He is also right that the costs of using public law to remedy such indignities are significant, especially for the conscientious owners whose livelihoods are at stake. So, what to do? What we need is an institution that is capable of resolving these fraught disputes on a case-by-case basis. Fortunately, the common law provides such institutions.
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The Threat to Life and Liberty from the United Nations’ Abuse of Human Rights
Individuals who are victims of abuses against their fundamental human rights can and should be defended and protected using existing human rights laws and norms, regardless of their race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or any other distinguishing characteristic. UN member states and human rights advocates alike should work to promote and protect fundamental, natural human rights, not redefine or eliminate rights based on their particular policy preferences.
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How Trump Has Transformed the GOP—and Why Conservatives Should Vote for Him Anyway
In the past, disparate groups on the American right were united by their opposition to communism. Today, fears of the threat of an ascendant China, the growing boldness of cancel culture, and the enervating philosophy of the “woke” proselytizers form the basis of new right-wing coalitions. If Trump succeeds, the big government of the American right will be one that embraces American ideals, American history, and American religion rather than tearing it down in pursuit of some post-religious techno-secular utopia.
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The Role of the United States in the Revitalization of the International Human Rights Project
We must not forget that there were stark disagreements over what human rights consisted of at the dawn of the international human rights project in 1948. It was the focus on a common denominator upon which all States could agree that allowed for an international human rights framework to emerge. The US Commission on Unalienable Rights is right to encourage a recommitment to this vision if we are to save the international human rights project.
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Moral Guidance on Prioritizing Care During a Pandemic
In the next few weeks, as the pandemic perhaps reaches its zenith, we will have the opportunity to decide once again what sort of society we intend to be. We should eschew all invidious discrimination and recommit ourselves to treating all who are ill as bearers of profound, inherent, and equal worth and dignity.
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Speech and Conscience in Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life
How does one film the work of the conscience, hidden as it is? How does one capture the internal struggle to speak when confronted by the demand for conformity? Terrence Malick successfully recreates this struggle for us in his latest film, A Hidden Life; and while his story focuses primarily on the struggle of one historical individual, the experiences Malick captures on film deepen our understanding of and sympathy for the precarious condition we all share.
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Saint John Henry Newman and Freedom of Conscience: Countering a Modern Apostasy
In the 130 years since John Henry Newman’s death, few concepts have been more misunderstood and distorted than “conscience.” The danger is greater today than when the great saint wrote. The distorted view of conscience that Newman described as oriented to self and not to God has penetrated Western culture and religion. For many, the obligation to follow one’s conscience has been embraced, but fidelity to truth has been set aside. This untethered and counterfeit “freedom of conscience” has led to a widespread subjectivism that Newman saw emerging within modern European society, even in his own day.
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Anti-Discrimination “Equality” Law Exemptions Do Not Lead to Fairness for All: An International Perspective
Although exemptions are often billed as a compromise, the evidence suggests that they will never be enough to satisfy those who think religious believers are discriminating and getting away with it. The “compromise” soon becomes a zero-sum game with only one winner.
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Whose Conscience? What Protections? Conscience Provisions in Healthcare and Elsewhere
The Trump administration has launched several encouraging initiatives to strengthen conscience protection for healthcare workers. But the bills that would enshrine these protections into law are moving at a snail’s pace through the House and Senate.
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Learning to Live with Same-Sex Marriage?
The city of Philadelphia is targeting Catholic Social Services for its policy, based on religious beliefs about marriage, of not placing foster children with same-sex couples.
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California’s New Sexual Orientation Bill Is Bad, but It Wouldn’t Ban Books
Social conservatives are right to oppose proposed legislation that would ban therapy to help those experiencing unwanted same-sex attraction or gender identity confusion. But they’re wrong to say that the bill would ban books.
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The New McCarthyism: Religion, Marriage, and Judicial Nominations
Should we determine whether a person is fit to be a judge based on his or her religious beliefs or opinions on contemporary policy debates? Or should the Senate approve judges based on their reputation for fairness, their ability to follow and apply law, and their record of judicial wisdom?
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Forcing Pro-Life Pregnancy Care Centers to Advertise for Abortion is Unjust and Unconstitutional
Pregnancy care centers are being targeted by the state of California for respecting the intrinsic worth and dignity of women and children, even when it is unprofitable to do so.
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Catholicism, Labor Unions, and the Courts
The Janus case is not an attack on unionism. It is an attempt to place unions on an equal footing with all other private organizations who have a right to organize, solicit members, and advocate what they believe.
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We Must Reclaim Parental Rights as Building Blocks to a Healthy Society
In both the United Kingdom and the United States, the fundamental rights of parents have dangerously eroded, undermining the ability of parents to protect the welfare of their children, instill moral values, and pass on religious beliefs and practices.
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Is America Running Out of Patience with LGBT Activism?
From surprisingly fast and unexpected victory can come great hubris and the desire to utterly crush one’s opponents. Perhaps GLAAD and its allies should learn to practice what they preach: tolerance of other people’s beliefs and practices, even if they don’t fully understand them.
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Notre Dame Swallows the Pill
The University has announced it is to be the sole funder, unaccompanied proprietor, and director of distribution of what it has solemnly declared for years to be an immoral service. But the Holy Spirit is not a consequentialist. God does not want us to weigh up pros and cons of adhering to the moral truth. And the greatest respect we can show others is to bear faithful witness to the truth.
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The Mortara Case and the Limits of State Power: First Things Should Disavow Fr. Cessario’s Defense of Pius IX in the Mortara Case
Many people do care—and care a lot—what the editors of First Things think about Christian-Jewish relations, and this time the galloping statism of First Things is doing great damage in the real world. Robert T. Miller calls on R.R. Reno to disavow the position Romanus Cessario takes on the Mortara case and to reaffirm the journal’s historical commitment to the freedom of religion as understood in liberal states.
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The Fourteenth Amendment and Masterpiece Cakeshop: Equal Citizenship, our Inclusive Republic, and Anglo-American Common Law
The government cannot impose creedal and exclusionary limits on occupational freedom by compelling particular citizens to provide goods and services contrary to their beliefs, unless those citizens have such a monopoly market power as to exclude other citizens from the market.
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Minority Stress Is Real, but Wedding Cakes Don’t Cause It
New research points to “internalized homophobia” as the problem, not external discrimination.
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Religious Exemptions Aren’t Special Privileges
Why are Christian bakers and florists less worthy of accommodation than groups who would engage in nearly identical behavior for equally expressive, but not necessarily religious, purposes?
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Equal Property Rights for All, Including Christian Wedding Cake Bakers
Just as governors, abortionists, and sexual-identity activists enjoy legal protection for their property rights, so do religious business owners.
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The Christian Baker’s Unanswered Legal Argument: Why the Strongest Objections Fail
The Supreme Court is about to decide whether a baker has a First Amendment right not to be compelled to design and create cakes celebrating same-sex weddings. The baker’s best legal argument is simple, and it survives the best objections filed by the ACLU and Progressive scholars.
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Making the Case for Complicity-Based Religious Liberty Accommodations
Two Yale law professors say religious liberty should not be accommodated in “complicity” cases such as Masterpiece Cakeshop and Arlene’s Flowers. Their argument fails to recognize that such accommodations are a traditional and necessary part of the American legal framework.