Sen. Keven Stratton, R-Orem, and Rep. Michael Petersen, R-North Logan, sponsored a resolution, HCR15, that they say “encourages practices that exemplify religious freedom in public spaces.”
The resolution, introduced Monday, says all public school students and teachers should be welcome to openly express their faith, that there should be religious observances in government and communities, and the state should protect religious symbols in public spaces and foster interfaith dialogue.
To be recognized, the concurrent resolution must pass in the House and the Senate and then be signed by Gov. Spencer Cox. While a resolution does not carry the weight of the law, it would act like a statement of principles for religious freedom in the state.
So why introduce it?
Speaking to the Deseret News, Stratton encouraged people to read the resolution before judging it. “I would just advise you to give it a thoughtful read,” he said.
“Oftentimes, resolutions are put forth to educate, inform or enlighten on certain ideas,” Stratton explained. “That’s a lot of what the segue paragraphs do here, starting with the formation of the country and going through history to where we are today.”
Lawmakers explain why they introduced religious liberty resolution
The resolution quotes from a series of foundational U.S. documents on the right to worship and compares them with recent Supreme Court rulings.
First, the resolution quotes the Declaration of Independence, which gives men rights “endowed by their Creator.”
The resolution then cites former President Thomas Jefferson’s description of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom of 1786, which established how religious freedom is meant to cover every denomination and sect.
Then, the resolution cites Founding Father Benjamin Franklin’s personal creed, stating “God (is the) creator of the universe. That he governs it by his Providence. That he ought to be worshiped.“
Former President John Adams' letter to the Massachusetts militia followed Franklin’s creed in the resolution, saying, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.“
The resolution then references several Supreme Court cases regarding religious liberty.
First, the resolution nods to the 1971 Lemon v. Kurtzman ruling, which established three rules laws must follow. Ultimately, this ruling favored abdicating religion from public spaces for the sake of “neutrality.”
In addition to two other rulings within the last six years, the resolution quotes the Supreme Court’s ruling in Kennedy v. Bremerton, where a high school football coach was fired “after he knelt at midfield after games to offer a quiet personal prayer.”
“The (free exercise) clause protects not only the right to harbor religious beliefs inwardly and secretly. It does perhaps its most important work by protecting the ability of those who hold religious beliefs of all kinds to live out their faiths in daily life through the performance of (or abstention from) physical acts,” the 2022 ruling stated.
Stratton said the court rulings are meant to show the shift away from religion in the public sphere starting in the 1970s, and the shift back since 2019.
“When you take God out of society, you create a vacuum, and it’s going to be filled. To invite that Judeo-Christian value back into the public square allows all sorts of the things many of us were yearning for to heal the wounds of our nation and bring us together as a people,” he said.
But this is not a resolution just for Christians, the co-sponsors say. “It’s trying to invite people of all faiths to be respected and allowed in the discussions — all faiths or no faiths — to truly be free exercise, not only consciously, but in the public square,” Stratton said.