On Tuesday, April 7, we continued our regular “Religion in the News Series” with a lunchtime conversation, “Whose Freedom Counts More? Debating Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act.” As is the rule for these occasional news-driven events, there is no featured speaker, but rather a sharing of collective wisdom on the topic, what we’ve read and followed in the media, plus our own wider reflections on the significance of the topic under discussion.
Tuesday’s conversation about Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act followed this format. We looked first at the law itself, and then at some of the suggested changes to it, and major pro- and con- media reactions to the controversy. We attempted to sort out (without the benefit of lawyers in the room) some of the ambiguities and subtleties in the Act as originally written and then revised.
Within the short space of an hour-plus, we were also able to talk about similar debated cases related to bias and discrimination, the sometimes competing religious freedom rights of individuals on both sides of any given issue, and the still weightier philosophical considerations pertaining to the personhood of individuals and corporate entities.
As is always the case in such conversations, we eventually turned the lens toward ourselves: given the media “frenzy” about such issues, the hasty headlines and hasty judgments, how do religious educators and scholars and students such as ourselves helpfully contribute to the wider discussions – without being so technical as to be overlooked, or so general as to add to the confusion?
—By Francis X. Clooney, Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions