In 1993 when the United States Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and President Clinton signed the bill into law, it was hailed as a significant and proper step in reinstating basic constitutional guarantees of the free exercise of religion. Although the so-called "peyote decision" by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1990 became the key motivation for congressional action, a number of churches and a growing number of citizens had become concerned about the steady erosion of religious liberties that seemed to be resulting through various court decisions. Of course, no one could ignore the fact that other values in society had been eroding as well and that the threat to religious freedom wasn't occurring in a vacuum.

When significant court cases were appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in recent years, the decisions being handed down appeared to many observers to indicate that the balance had swung dangerously toward the side of the government's political, financial, and secular interests, which were beginning to outweigh legitimate rights of individuals. This imbalance is what RFRA was intended to correct. Its purpose has been to provide a clear mandate in law that government may not substantially burden and individual's free exercise of religion without proving that the burden is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.

Until March of this year, the new law had stood the test of constitutionality, notably being upheld specifically by a federal court decision in Hawaii this past February. On March 13, however, a U.S. district judge in Texas found the law unconstitutional. The Baltimore Sun reported that Judge Lucius D. Bunton III has determined "that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was intended to overrule a 1990 Supreme Court decision, but he said Congress cannot undo a constitutional ruling by passing a law."

At this writing it was expected that, although the Texas decision was binding in that court, the wide-ranging implications would necessitate an early appeal. The case may finally be taken to the U.S. Supreme Court. The day following the Texas ruling, the White House issued a press statement, reasserting President Clinton's support of the law. The president's words at his original signing of RFRA were quoted, in which he had noted that the law "affirm[s] the historic role that people of faith have played in the history of this country and the constitutional protections those who profess and express their faith have always demanded and cherished."

For Christian Scientists and all others of religions conviction, this is a vital issue that requires our prayer. The inalienable rights of free exercise of religion are indeed to be "demanded and cherished."

The President's words about "people of faith" really go to the heart of what's at stake. It isn't only what a person professes of his or her faith that is important; it is also—and even more so—what that person actually expresses. Isn't it the expression of our religious faith and spiritual ideals that brings to our lives the meaning and purpose we each feel God has given us individually? Profession of one's faith requires not nearly so much of a person as does the expression of it—the active worship of God, the living for His glory, the manifestation outwardly of what we believe He has intended us to do with our lives.

The Christian Scientist has determined that in his or her own worship of God, the daily living of that worship naturally includes the ministry of Christian healing—the healing of sickness, sin, and every distress of human experience, through prayer alone. Christ Jesus taught his followers to go into all the world not only professing what they believe but also healing as they went (see Matt. 10:7, 8 and Mark 16:15, 17, 18, 20).

The political, financial, and secular interests of the state may not always comprehend and thereby agree with an individual's own compelling interest in spiritual healing. Yet it is even more than a farsighted guarantee granted by wise Founding Fathers that is at issue here. It is in fact a divine right that we are to demand courageously and cherish in prayer. It is the right to be what our creator made us to be: perfect, pure, whole, complete, free, in His image and likeness. This is the truth of our being as the spiritual reflection of the one infinite God, divine Spirit, Life, and Love. And this is what healing through the laws of God demonstrates, and why the responsible practice of Christian healing must not be abrogated.

Mary Baker Eddy, who founded the Church of Christ, Scientist, wrote extensively on mankind's God-given rights and the necessity for demanding and cherishing those rights. In the textbook of Christian Science, for example, she states: "God has built a higher platform of human rights, and He has built it on diviner claims. These claims are not made through code or creed, but in demonstration of 'on earth peace, good-will toward men.'" And on the next page, she continues: "Discerning the rights of man, we cannot fail to foresee the doom of all oppression. Slavery is not the legitimate state of man. God made man free. Paul said, 'I was free born.' All men should be free. 'Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.' ...

"Citizens of the world, accept the 'glorious liberty of the children of God,' and be free! This is your divine right" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, pp. 226–227).

In the spiritual truth of these last two Bible verses about liberty that Mrs. Eddy quotes is an important foundation for effective prayer in forwarding humanity's religious freedom. Liberty is truly and always "where the Spirit of the Lord is." And because God, Spirit, is omnipresent—all-presence—there can be no possibility of His absence. Consequently, liberty is a fact of our true existence, an inherent and glorious aspect of our very being as "the children of God." No government, no law, no court, can take it away, nor do they give us this divine right. Again, it is God-given and therefore permanent.

There is no question that we need to remain vigilant both in demanding and cherishing religious freedom. The progress of society depends on it. And as we go forward in our prayer and work for man's inalienable rights, we can humbly know that liberty is always found—and is always preserved—"where the Spirit of the Lord is."

William E. Moody

I CORINTHIANS

Be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

I Corinthians 15:58