API Senior Fellow J. Pepper Bryars recently discussed how Alabama’s local and state governments should defend our religious freedom on the Fred Holland Show, 105.3 FM WTKI in Huntsville.
Bryars noted how the Freedom From Religion Foundation has implicitly or directly threatened to sue more than 40 Alabama school systems, local governments, and elected officials during recent years over what they claim are violations of the Constitution’s ban on the establishment of religion.
He offered three reasons why we shouldn’t back down from fighting the more frivolous of their claims:
#1: Our leaders were elected to protect our rights.
Our constitution doesn’t just prohibit the establishment of religion; it also forbids actions that will “prohibit the free exercise thereof.” We depend upon our elected leaders to protect these rights.
#2: We’re not alone.
There are many organizations that provide support to those whose religious freedoms are under attack. They can help local governments defend cases that are clearly appropriate and harmless displays of faith.
#3: The odds are in our favor.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation made more than 1,500 threats in 2017, but a review of their most recent public tax documents show that they were involved in just 22 actual lawsuits. That’s only 1.4 percent of their complaints.
Read the full op-ed at Al.com and listen to the interview here: