Religious Freedom Debate in North Dakota

They're really at the cutting edge In North Dakota now: they're awash not only in oil, but also in controversy over religious freedom. A proposed state constitutional amendment, on the ballot for June 12, would adopt for the state the "burden on religious exercise/compelling interest" test already applicable to the federal government through RFRA and to 27 states through statutes or constitutional rules. But the proposal has come under attack from a variety of groups. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, which reaches much of the state, suggested in an editorial that the amendment was merely the handiwork, and for the benefit, of Catholic bishops and religious-right activists. So I published this op-ed response in the paper arguing that such measures protect religious liberty even-handedly, and with reasonable limits, for all.

As I've said here before, a great challenge today is to convince citizens of all political stripes that vigorous religious freedom is not just a ploy for the right--because more and more people dismiss it as that--but an inheritance of all Americans and a treasure of our society.