In the run-up to next year’s campaigns, the issue of religious liberty is in danger of becoming a divisive, partisan weapon. Some conservative policymakers, candidates, pundits, and others are seeking to redefine this core American value and use it as a sword to opt out of laws they don’t like. They are using the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling to justify their actions and state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, or RFRAs, to achieve their ends. What does religious liberty look like in a post-Hobby Lobby world? What harms did the ruling inflict, what precedents did it set, and what fallout are we seeing? How can we restore the RFRA to its original intent and promote an inclusive vision of religious liberty that promotes free religious exercise as well as the freedom to not be forced into following religious beliefs and practices not one’s own?
Please join the Center for American Progress for a lively, enlightening conversation on this timely issue.
Introduction:
Carmel Martin, Executive Vice President for Policy, Center for American Progress
Panelists:
Frederick Davie, Executive Vice President, Union Theological Seminary
Carolyn Davis, Policy Analyst, Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative, Center for American Progress
Eunice Hyon Min Rho, Advocacy and Policy Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union
Moderator:
Laura Durso, Director of the LGBT Research and Communications Project, Center for American Progress