Freedom of Worship
by Kerby Anderson

Many commentators have noticed that members of the Obama administration seem to be using different terms in their speeches perhaps signaling a redefinition of the meaning of religious freedom. Although it is merely a change of one word, sometimes such a small change can indicate a larger change in perspective.
 
Since last year's speech in Cairo, President Obama has abandoned the phrase "freedom of religion" in favor of the phrase "freedom of worship." And in a speech at Georgetown University, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talked about "freedom of worship" as a priority of the administration. Although some argue that the phrases are interchangeable, many commentators are not so sure.
 
Nina Shea at Freedom House told Christianity Today that mere freedom of worship "excludes the right to raise your children in your faith; the right to have religious literature; the right to meet with co-religionists; the right to raise funds; the right to appoint your religious leaders, and to carry out charitable activities, to evangelize," and even to influence public policy.
 
Ashley Samelson writing in First Things stated, "To anyone who closely follows prominent discussion of religious freedom in the diplomatic and political arena, this linguistic shift is troubling." She reminds us that any person of faith "knows that religious exercise is about a lot more than freedom of worship."
 
Some believe this is the culmination of a four-decade attempt to drive religious belief (especially Christian belief) from the public square. Prayer, Bible reading, nativity scenes, and the Ten Commandments have all been removed. But a naked public square is still not enough for those who want to remove all vestiges of religion from public life.
 
The framers of our Constitution wisely placed in the First Amendment a provision that government could not prohibit the "free exercise" of religion. Unfortunately, the current administration appears to be defining religion as nothing more than freedom of worship. It is easy to see how we can lose our religious liberty. I'm Kerby Anderson, and that's my point of view.