Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, headlined a Jan. 18 gathering of more than 140 people (our largest audience ever) to explore the true meaning of religious freedom.
Speaking at the HMN-sponsored forum, Laser emphasized that religious freedom allows us to believe as we choose as long as we aren’t harming others. She warned that Christian nationalists had turned “religious freedom” into a code word for “religious privilege,” wielding it “as a sword instead of as a shield.”
Laser discussed several legal battles Americans United had taken on, including two involving taxpayer-funded foster care agencies that denied services to people or rejected volunteers because they were the “wrong” religion.
“The good news is we have an antidote to fight for: church-state separation,” she told the audience at First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis. While that sometimes seems like a cerebral concept tied to our (flawed) founding fathers, she added, it actually affects our daily lives, protecting for example our right to live as ourselves, love who we love, and seek reproductive care.
Church-state separation also prevents Americans, who live in a diverse country rooted in pluralism, from being divided, Laser said. “What enables us to coexist in peace is that the government is not saying, ‘You’re better than you.'”
HumanistsMN planned the forum to observe National Religious Freedom Day, which commemorates the Virginia General Assembly’s adoption of Thomas Jefferson’s landmark Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom on Jan. 16, 1786. The statute became the basis for the establishment clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing the separation of church and state. The U.S. President has proclaimed Religious Freedom Day annually since 1993.
Unfortunately, some courts and lawmakers have interpreted “religious freedom” to mean the right to discriminate against LGBTQ people, curtail reproductive rights, deny services and health care, or impose religion in public schools. With the return of Donald Trump to power, backed by Christian nationalists, these threats are likely to grow.
Local Panels
The forum attracted both religious and nonreligious advocates for church-state separation. It included two panels of local activists who discussed their work to uphold religious freedom.
Panel One (Politics and Religious Freedom) included:
Rev. Angela Denker, an ELCA Lutheran pastor, veteran journalist, and outspoken critic of Christian nationalism. Rep. Mike Freiberg, a founder and co-chair of the Minnesota Legislature’s Secular Government Caucus, which advocates for separation of religion and government. Kyrstin Schuette, executive director of the School Board Integrity Project, which recruits and trains school board candidates who value the freedom to read and to learn.
Panel Two (Bodily Autonomy and Religious Freedom) included:
Rep. Esther Agbaje, a member of the Minnesota Legislature’s Secular Government Caucus and author of the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act, which protects the rights and privacy of patients from other states who seek abortions in Minnesota. Jess Braverman, legal director at Gender Justice, which works to remove barriers to gender equity. Audrey Kingstrom, a humanist celebrant, HumanistsMN Board member, and longtime volunteer for Compassion and Choices, which advocates for expanded choices and improved care at the end of life.
Reception and Advocacy Tables
The forum was followed by a reception where attendees could visit tables set up by advocacy groups. They included ACLU of Minnesota, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Christians Against Christian Nationalism Minnesota, First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, Gender Justice, Health Care for All Minnesota, Jews for a Secular Democracy/Or Emet, Minnesota Atheists, OutFront Minnesota, the Secular Student Alliance, and the School Board Integrity Project.
— Suzanne Perry
See a video of the National Religious Freedom Day Forum below.
Photos by Craig Stilen. Clockwise: 1. Rachel Laser greeting HMN volunteers. 2. The forum audience. 3. HMN President Ellie Haylund. 4. HMN Board member Suzanne Perry, lead forum organizer. 5. Panel One. 6. Panel Two. 7. Audrey Kingstrom and Angela Denker. 8. Kyrstin Schuette and Mike Freiberg. 9. Esther Agbaje and Rachel Laser. 10. Audrey and Jess Braverman. 11. All panelists with Suzanne, Ellie, and Audrey, 12. The reception.
2 comments
WHERE EXACTLY did you / do you meet?
I’m interested, but NOT in one more ZOOM!
Author
Hello! We meet at First Unitarian Society in Minneapolis. I will add that to the article!