RFRA and the New Thoreaus
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Canopy Forum
Publication Date
10-24-2023
Abstract
(Excerpt)
It hardly seems imaginable today, but the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which restored strict scrutiny and made it easier for citizens to receive religious exemptions from civil laws, passed in 1993 with overwhelming bipartisan support. The vote was unanimous in the House. In the Senate, only three members objected. Thirty years ago, religious exemptions did not divide Americans politically. On the contrary, RFRA enjoyed the backing of progressive groups such as the ACLU and Americans United and conservative groups such as the American Center for Law and Justice and the Christian Legal Society. RFRA served as a model for similar legislation in the states, many of which adopted “state RFRAs” that likewise make exemptions available where a civil law substantially burdens religious exercise–unless a state can show that the law furthers a compelling governmental interest in the least restrictive manner.
Times have changed in a way that people could not have foreseen in 1993. Religious exemptions have become politically controversial. RFRA and its state analogues would not pass with similar margins today, if they would pass at all. Mostly, the controversies relate to Americans’ changing views on sexual orientation and gender identity, specifically, the question whether traditional believers who dissent from the new, egalitarian norms should receive exemptions from public accommodations and other anti-discrimination laws. In some contexts, traditional believers maintain that such laws violate their religious freedom and that the state must give them exemptions. Progressives, by contrast, see exemptions as a license to discriminate. Compromises seem impossible for many Americans on both sides.
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Originally published at: https://canopyforum.org/2023/10/24/rfra-and-the-new-thoreaus/