Religious Liberty Means Nothing if It Is Only for People Like Us

I’ve long defended the rights of religious people to practice their faith without fear. Typically, I’m writing about people in far-off lands living under constant persecution. It hit closer to home this week.

A jury has awarded $667,000 to Muslim inmates who claimed they were pepper-sprayed and beaten at a Missouri jail in 2021. The men had been allowed to gather peacefully many times before but on this particular day they were met with violence. A jury found they did nothing to incite the violence. Just gathered to pray.

As Christians we should applaud the verdict. People of faith, whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or any number of other religions, must be guaranteed the same rights in our country. The right to gather, to pray, to preach and to work out faith in daily personal expressions as we each see fit. It is foundational to our democracy. Religious liberty is not a prop. Either we each have it as citizens or, in reality, no one has it.

Now you and I may disagree with Islam. That’s fine. We are not being asked to dilute the Gospel in supporting another religion’s freedom to practice it. It is not surrendering our convictions. It is standing up and saying we each have a right to practice our faith and it must be defended where ever we find it under threat, even when we disagree with them.

Perhaps, just perhaps, especially at that moment.

–Dwight Widaman is an award-winning journalist and editor of Metro Voice. His opinion pieces have been published by other news outlets, including The Jerusalem Post. He also serves as the President of the Evangelical Press Association.