Is Freedom of Religion Being Abused?

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What does freedom of religion really mean — and who decides what counts as a religion? In this video, we answer Reddit questions about the First Amendment, how courts define religion, and whether freedom of religion is truly applied equally in America. From school prayer to public spaces, the debate isn’t always as simple as it seems. So… is religious freedom being protected — or politicized? You decide.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

Hi, my name is Brenton Goodman and this is You decide, we're gonna take a different format today where I'm gonna answer questions from Reddit about the freedom of religion, and you get to decide what you think of the answers. The first question we have is, what does freedom of religion mean? In order to define that, first we have to say what a religion is. The courts have not and will not ever define a religion. That's because there are so many different ways to believe in and practice a religion that if you try to define religion by encompassing everything, it's gonna be so broad that it doesn't really mean anything. Whereas if you try to narrow that definition, you're not going to be talking about all of the different ways that one can practice and believe in certain religions. And so if you do that, you're ultimately supporting some types of religion and practice and not supporting others.

So in order to get around that, the courts just say, is something a religion or not? And does it seem like religion or not? And basically the courts say you know it when you see it. And they use a four factor test to determine that. They say, is this something that is central to the believer's life? Then it does this belief have a moral code? Is this moral code shared by a community of individuals and not just the individual themself? And then is this moral code and this belief one that is truly held? If all four of those are seen by the court, then they're gonna say that whatever is being believed is in fact a religion. So then where do we get the idea of freedom of religion? Well, it came from our founders who enshrined it in the Constitution in the First Amendment.

And the First Amendment says that the government cannot establish any one religion. Frankly, it just cannot promote some religion over others and can't create one religion to say, be the religion of the nation. And you also cannot be prohibited from the freedom to express or practice your religion. So in all, to summarize, the freedom of religion is the inability of the government to establish one type of religion over the other. And it's the ability for you to be able to freely exercise whatever religion you choose. The second question is, what is your reason for or against freedom of religion? Well, the argument for freedom of religion is quite clear, and that's the idea that the founders believed exactly what we do, which is that everyone should have the freedom to express their religion and practice their religion however they want. And not only that, but we should be able to do so because that right is fundamental.

And the idea of it being fundamental, either it comes from the idea that it is such a universal truth, that it's necessary to adjust and fair society like we have now, or that it is something that is God-given. And because God gave us this universal truth, we must maintain it as fundamental. Now, the argument against freedom of religion, it's not so much that we shouldn't have it unless you just want to do away with democracy altogether, but it's the idea that it is not practiced fairly in the courts. And oftentimes it's people that believe that

We, we put too much emphasis on people being able to practice their individual religions and not enough emphasis on keeping religion outside of schools and other public spaces. That does it for the questions today. But if you have further questions about freedom of religion or any constitutional topic, feel free to put 'em in the comments below and I'll be happy to answer 'em.