Proselytization Clarification

I agree with Rick's clarification, assuming that Pope John Paul II, in Dignitatis Humanae, was not asking for the government to play a role in restraining religious communities from engaging in practices that could be construed as "dishonorable or unworthy." After all, modern liberalism's notions of honor and worthiness might not leave much room at all for evangelization efforts. If we're going to unleash state power to restrain proselytization, I still think it should be limited to clear cases of tangible harm like financial fraud or physical coercion. To the extent that the Pope was simply asking for religious communities to comport themselves in a worthy manner -- and was not licensing the state to regulate proselytization based on its own self-serving interpretation of infinitely malleable terms -- the Pope's statement embodies the "marketplace of ideas" approach to proselytizing. We certainly can and should employ tools of moral suasion and condemnation when religious communities cross the line of decency in their recruitment efforts, but we should be extremely hesitant in asking the government to give our moral judgment the force of law.

Rob