Jehovah's Witnesses & Religious Liberty
Part 1: Overview More of this Feature
Part 2: Public Evangelism
Part 3: Flag Pledges
Join the Discussion
"Sen. David O'Connell said North Dakotans who would like the Ten Commandments posted in schools maybe have been too sensitive about whether the idea would offend others. 'I'm getting a little tired of maybe there's one person in the whole state that it might be offensive to,' O'Connell said."
PADAWAN
Related Resources
Supreme Court Decisions
JW Cases
There are plenty of people who get annoyed when Jehovah's Witnesses come knocking at the door, attempting to sell their religion. Their theology is odder than most, and their practices are not very different. But before you judge them too harshly, it is worth keeping in mind that they have played a key role in the development of religious liberty for everyone in America, not just themselves.
For much of its history, America has been largely a defacto Protestant establishment, with laws and politics generally favoring Protestant Christian assumptions and ignoring the needs of everyone else. America has not always been tolerant towards religious minorities - including, if not especially, Christian minorities - until recently. Two groups which have been among the most despised were the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses.
The latter is the topic of this article because their legal efforts have made a huge impact upon the relationship between state and religion. In particular, their court battles have forced the federal government to stop, analyze, and ultimately toss out many local ordinances which were clearly discriminatory.
When James Madison helped draft the Bill of Rights, he originally wanted them to also apply to the states and not just the federal government. He was of the opinion that local and state governments would be just as much of a force of oppression against individual rights as the federal government, if not more so.
Unfortunately, he was overruled - and just as unfortunately, he has been proven correct. It was not until after the Civil War that the Bill of Rights was applied to the states, and it was not until the Jehovah's Witness cases of the 1940s that the constitutional provisions of religious liberty began to be enforced in earnest.
The primary underlying theme of all of the cases was the distinction between belief and practice. At no point were the actual beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses under threat, but their ability to practice what their religion required of them was challenged or prohibited in any number of ways. This is a problem which has not - and probably cannot - be resolved completely.
If you are free to believe what you want, but not free to act on those beliefs, then the freedom of religion is hollow. On the other hand, the state cannot permit just any action simply because the person involved is acting on religious conviction. There has to be some line drawn between those actions which are impermissible regardless of the origin and those which are permitted.
Where to draw that line, and how to balance those needs, is a question which continues to vex lawmakers and jurists. Back in the first half of the twentieth century, however, the lines were drawn in a way which clearly favored traditional Christian beliefs and which hindered minority and dissenting religious belief, Christian or otherwise.
Over time, many Jehovah's Witnesses grew increasingly tired of the restraints put on them and started to challenge the laws in court, often only finding favor at the national level. This is something which Madison and other early leaders expected, because at the national level many of the local passsions disappear.
In doing this, the Witnesses invoked constitutional principles which applied to everyone. Thus, by working to improve their own religious liberties, they improved the state of religious liberty for everyone. This site has most of the major cases summarized and analyzed if you want to skip right to them; but here we will take a general overview of two of the main issues involved and what resulted in the end.
Copy & paste to friend: (Click inside box; Ctrl + C to copy; Ctrl + V to paste)
|
|
read more blogs!
Blogs by HopelesslyHopeful:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Jehovah's Witnesses (generously borrowed from about.com) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|