Category: Fresno Bee Religion and Ethics Columns

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Religious Liberty

Fresno Bee, Nov. 2, 2025

The Trump administration’s call for a religious revival is worrying

Religious freedom is the first liberty of the First Amendment. As we consider our rights in this time of crisis, we should ponder the meaning of these 16 words: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Americans are free to believe whatever we want, but the government should not use its power to support or favor any particular religion.

One wonders then about the White House’s “America Prays” initiative. This is a call to prayer connected with the upcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. When he unveiled the program last month, President Donald Trump explained that “to have a great nation, you have to have religion.” He said, “When faith gets weaker, our country seems to get weaker.” And, “We’re defending our rights and restoring our identity as a nation under God.”

This top-down call for religious revival is worrying. Our political leaders have a “free exercise” right to pray. They are at liberty to discuss religion and promote it, as free citizens. But this becomes problematic when the government leads a religious revival.

Just this week, Sean Feucht, a pastor associated with the Trump administration, revealed that, as the 250th anniversary approaches, “We are planning and plotting to do revival meetings sponsored by the U.S. government all across the nation.” This would include a “giant, massive” worship event at Mount Rushmore.

Feucht may be speaking loosely here with regard to a government-sponsored revival. The government could permit citizens to meet in public for religious purposes. But if the government sponsored a revival, this would violate the First Amendment’s “establishment clause.”

A government-sponsored religious revival will inevitably end up picking sides in disputes about religion. What will non-Christian people think about their tax dollars being spent to sponsor a Christian revival? And even within Christianity, there are deep disagreements. Will the revival include Mormons and Methodists, Catholics and Congregationalists?

And what about the growing number of non-religious people? Around 30% of Americans are not affiliated with any religion. A recent survey from the Pew Center found that 68% of Americans think that religion is “losing influence.”

This general decline of religion helps explain the rise of Christian nationalism. In my recent book on this topic, I explain Christian nationalism as “post-secular backlash.” Some Christians worry that the First Amendment system has allowed too much freedom of religion. They blame our growing lack of religious commitment on a world in which religious liberty has gone too far.

Proponents of Christian revival push back against the way the First Amendment has been applied and understood. Some want to bring back school prayer and teach Bible lessons in schools. But First Amendment cases have often been driven by Christians who want to practice their faith in their own way. Christians have been plaintiffs in recent cases opposing the promotion of the Ten Commandments in schools in Louisiana and the Bible in Oklahoma schools.

These Christians don’t want the government to impose a preferred text, prayer or interpretation of faith. It is worth asking whether we trust government officials — with all their flaws — to shape the faith of the nation.

The American Founders did not. That’s why they emphasize religious liberty. In 1779, Thomas Jefferson authored a “Statute on Religious Freedom” for the state of Virginia. This was passed into law in 1786 with the help of James Madison, who went on to author the First Amendment. The Virginia Statute says, among other things, that it is an “impious presumption” for “fallible and uninspired men” to assume “dominion over the faith of others.”

The word “dominion” is important. History records many struggles for power among religious sects. When governments get involved in these power struggles, it antagonizes some parties, while privileging others.

Perhaps a religious revival could help a nation lost in loneliness, addiction and violence. But which faith will lead the revival? And those who have left religion behind may imagine a different sort of revival: of science and rationality. If there is to be a revival, this should be the work of free citizens. It is not the business of the government.

Read more at: https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article312711431.html#storylink=cpy

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The Right to Peaceful Assembly

Fresno Bee, October 19, 2025

Trump’s federal crackdowns risk eroding peaceful assembly rights

Now is a crucial time to think about our basic rights. Among the rights listed in the First Amendment are the rights to peacefully assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The right to petition and assemble allows us to gather in protests, marches and demonstrations.

It is antithetical to the idea of liberty to prevent people from gathering in public. But the right to assembly has often been at risk. Recent crackdowns against protest and dissent risk violating that right, as well as freedom of speech.

At a recent roundtable discussion of “antifa” and anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement protests, President Donald Trump celebrated his ban on flag burning, saying, “we took the freedom of speech away.” A Supreme Court precedent from the 1980s, however, allows flag burning. Trump’s policy is justified by appealing to an issue involving the right to assemble. He explained, “When they burn a flag, it agitates and irritates crowds, I’ve never seen anything like it, on both sides, and you end up with riots. So, we’re going on that basis.”

The right of peaceful assembly is not a right to rampage. The government can stop riots as a matter of public safety. But the threat of a riot can be used as a pretext for violating people’s rights.

The tension between liberty and public safety is real. We saw this during the COVID pandemic, when public gatherings were limited. National guard deployments could be justified in terms of public safety. If there really were riots, the right to assembly could be curtailed.

But this depends on the facts on the ground. And as a federal judge recently ruled, the president’s claims about protecting what he calls “war ravaged” cities is “untethered to the facts.”

Legal authorities should protect both protesters and counter-protesters, who each have a right to protest. But the presence of troops and the threat of arrest can have a chilling effect on ordinary citizens who are scared away from assembling. Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union National Security Project, said of these deployments: “It risks chilling the rights to speak and to assemble. In other words, that very fundamental American right to protest.”

The right to peacefully assemble has been called a “forgotten freedom.” This right may seem so obvious that it is almost not worth thinking about. The right to assembly is about what we do with our bodies, where we gather and how we associate with other people. To limit this fundamental right to move our bodies and occupy space without good reason is tyrannical.

The American founders understood this, which was why they ratified the First Amendment. In the background was the case of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. As a young man, Penn was arrested in England for meeting in public with other Quakers. England had banned such “conventicles” in an attempt to harass dissenters.

This reminds us that the right to assemble is related to religious liberty (religion is a communal practice that involves public gatherings). The right to assemble is also important for political parties, social clubs, labor unions, and other gatherings of people.

This right has often been understood in relation to freedom of association, thought and expression. Freedom of assembly and association are linked with science and education. The advance of knowledge depends upon freedom of speech and of the press. Knowledge also develops socially. To learn wisdom, we must be able to meet and argue with other people. In the digital era, it is not only bodies that gather in public but also minds who should be free to meet together in cyberspace.

In his last speech, Martin Luther King Jr. addressed the attempt by the government to prevent protests during the Civil Rights movement. He remarked that liberty is routinely stifled in China, Russia and other totalitarian countries. But in the U.S., we have freedom of speech, press and assembly. King said, “the greatness of America is the right to protest for right.” The rights to assemble, speak and petition are an important part of what makes American great.

Read more at: https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article312530253.html#storylink=cpy

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Freedom of Speech and Press

Fresno Bee, Oct 5, 2025

The American Constitution wisely limits the law in ways that prevent authoritarianism.  These limits are reflected in the separation of powers, and in the fundamental rights and liberties set forth in the First Amendment and other Constitutional amendments.  The First Amendment protects freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and of the press, as well as the right to assemble and petition the government.

These rights are increasingly at risk.  A federal judge, William G. Young, argued in a recent ruling that the Trump Administration is engaged in a “full-throated assault on the First Amendment.”  The case involved the question of whether the government can deport noncitizens for exercising their right to freedom of speech.  The result of the Administration’s efforts, according to the judge, has been to “chill” the exercise of basic rights. 

Adding to this chilling effect are Trumpian lawsuits against newspapers and the threat that broadcasters could lose their licenses if they cross the President.  The President even suggested that it is “illegal” for reporters to write negative stories. 

This week, when the President suggested using American cities as “training grounds” for American troops, he warned military leaders of an “invasion” by “the enemy from within.”  He also attacked the press as “sleazebags” and “really corrupt.”  Trump has often referred to the press “the enemy of the people.”

  In this chilly environment it might seem wise to keep your mouth shut.  But if we remain silent, the chill will deepen.  Now is the time to speak up in defense of the Constitution and our basic rights.

One important part of this task is to recall that the liberties we enjoy today were not always ours.  The background condition for understanding American liberty is the bad old world of medieval authoritarianism, when heretics were burned, books were banned, and freethinkers were censored. 

As we all learned in school (or should have), the American colonists often came here to escape persecution in the old world.  But there was also censorship and persecution in the new world.  Benjamin Franklin’s brother, James, was jailed in 1722 by authorities in Massachusetts for publishing a controversial newspaper.  While his brother was in jail, Benjamin took over, publishing the following famous remark, “Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech.” 

This point is a common one made by modern philosophers, who assert that liberty is needed for progress and enlightenment.  John Stuart Mill said that attempts to limit freedom of speech and of the press are “noxious” and “illegitimate.”  The attempt to silence people ends up “robbing the human race” of the opportunity to argue and think.

Even after the Constitution was ratified Americans struggled with the temptation to censor.  The Alien and Sedition Acts of the 1790’s punished those who questioned the government.  One congressman, Matthew Lyon, of Vermont, was jailed for criticizing President John Adams in a newspaper he printed.  Lyon had said that President Adams had “an unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp.”

During this time, Thomas Jefferson worried that his mail would be intercepted and his political ideas would be punished.  He said in a letter, “the circumstances of the times are against my writing fully & freely.”  He added, “I know not which mortifies me most, that I should fear to write what I think, or my country bear such a state of things.” 

The chilling effect of censorship makes us think twice about expressing our opinions, thus undermining our liberty and stifling debate.  If someone with Jefferson’s stature was afraid to write candidly in a private letter, ordinary people will likely also fear to express themselves freely. 

History shows that bad ideas do not last forever.  James Franklin was released from jail.  Benjamin Franklin went on to play a vital role in the Revolution.  Matthew Lyon was re-elected to Congress while imprisoned.  After John Adams was voted out, his Federalist party eventually disappeared.  The Sedition Act expired when Thomas Jefferson took office. 

Progress can and does happen.  Bad laws can be repealed. Bad leaders can be voted out. And wisdom can replace stupidity.  But this can only happen if we are free to express ourselves.

Read more: https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article312355327.html

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The Problem of Violence

Fresno Bee, September 21, 2025

Violence usually stems from the mistaken idea that human problems can be solved by inhumane means. This helps explain wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and elsewhere. It also explains why the “Department of War” is blowing up Venezuelan drug boats. Our cultural fascination with violence helps explain assassinations, school shootings and why the National Guard is deployed on city streets.

The prevailing presumption is that destructive force can quickly and easily make things better. History shows that this is false. And morality condemns the use of immoral means in pursuit of moral ends.

Despite ugly outbreaks, violence remains rare. We notice violence and war because they are aberrations that surprise and appall. And despite its persistence, we have become wise to war’s stupidity.

Scholars like John Mueller and Steven Pinker have argued that humanity is becoming more civilized. Husbands no longer beat their wives with impunity. We no longer celebrate dueling. Slavery is illegal, as is corporal punishment.

The civilizing process echoes the wisdom of advocates of nonviolence, like Martin Luther King Jr. In 1967, King warned against a “descending spiral” of violence. He said, “Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.”

Violence is not creative or constructive. It does not persuade the rational mind. Nor does it recognize the complexity of the human condition. Rather, it provokes anger, hatred and reprisals.

Violence offers deceptively simple solutions to complex human problems. If a mosquito bites you, you swat it. But humans are not mosquitoes. We are precious beings with intrinsic value. Violence is immoral because it treats human beings as vermin to be destroyed. Unlike the mosquito, human beings demand respect and recognition. That’s why violence provokes resentment, retaliation and escalation.

The human problems that provoke violence demand that we think, rather than swat. Killing people you disagree with does not destroy their ideas. Blowing up boats does not stop the demand for drugs. And war does not address the human desire for stability, sovereignty and respect.

Primitive cultures celebrate brash ferocity and the spectacle of violence. Warrior kings ruled ancient empires using gruesome punishments like crucifixion. We have evolved to be better than that. Unfortunately, contemporary pop culture remains fixated on violent drivel in the form of superheroes and superspies. Those who marinate in a culture of violence may think that killing enemies also eliminates enmity. But this is not true. Rather, harshness creates hostility and cruelty causes further carnage.

Human spiritual development aims beyond violence. We are thinking beings who respond to persuasive arguments. We demand recognition of our humanity. And we desire justice and love. Physical force does not address those fundamental features of our humanity.

Human problems are not easily solved. We are not widgets waiting to be manipulated. Nor are we herd animals whose behavior can be modified by the application of pleasure and pain. Rather, we are free and creative beings. Our rational minds discover mysteries and wonders. Our emotional lives include unexplainable moods, loyalties and affections. Our freedom inclines us to rebel. And our creative energies lead us to invent and discover.

No human thing is simple or complete. We are complex and changeable. Love, for example, is a lifelong challenge. Lust and sex are animal problems, whose solutions are physical and obvious. But human love is an elaborate dance that depends upon the deliberate choice to orient your life toward the well-being of another. The same complexity is found in the pursuit of justice, which requires much more than physical force.

For our culture to improve, we need to continually affirm the complexity of our humanity while rejecting the stupidity of violence. We need to recall that “returning violence for violence multiplies violence,” as King said. We should study the sages of nonviolence, including Jesus, who even encourages us to love our enemies.

That proposal will sound absurd in a world of vermin. To say that enemies are worthy of love only makes sense if those enemies are human beings like ourselves, possessing intrinsic value. For human persons, love, justice, and truth are more powerful than violence.

Read more at: https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article312164049.html#storylink=cpy

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Conspiracy Theories and Intellectual Black Holes

Fresno Bee, Sept. 7, 2025

Conspiracy theories are everywhere. Before Labor Day, the internet buzzed with the rumor that President Donald Trump was dead. He proved his existence by showing up at a press conference, where he called the rumor of his demise “fake news.”

Yet Trump has trafficked in fake news himself: At the end of May, the president shared a conspiracy theory on Truth Social claiming that former President Joe Biden had been executed in 2020 and replaced by a robotic clone.

One wonders why people get caught up in this nonsense. Perhaps we are bored, or maybe we are paranoid. But conspiracy theories have a strange pull upon us. We can be sucked into the orbit of what some philosophers call a “black hole” of knowledge and information.

The solution is simple: It involves critical thinking and calmness of soul. Stay calm, be smart and avoid intellectual black holes.

Conspiracy theories are the result of a process in which the search for meaning runs aground on a world that is often strange and inexplicable. Wishful thinking satisfies our desire for things to make sense. Communities of gullible people reinforce outlandish ideas. This process is aggravated by secrecy, distrust, isolation, polarization and suspicion.

When powerful forces act behind closed doors, we suspect conspiracy.

As alienation grows and cynicism spreads, it is natural to think that something sneaky is going on. This is exacerbated by an information ecosystem that is full of misinformation and nonsense, and it’s made worse by interested parties who profit by feeding our delusions.

Our innate curiosity and desire to make sense stimulates conspiratorial speculation. We want to know how and why things work. When the answers aren’t obvious, we invent them. When the facts displease us, we construct alternatives. The search for meaning can lead into internet rabbit holes.

No one is entirely immune to this process — we all long for explanations of the inexplicable. Wishful thinking feels good, and it’s fun to speculate about hidden forces guiding the world.

This is how superstition works. Fear of black cats and broken mirrors is similar to a fear of secret governmental forces. Those who see ghosts and demons will likely see other mysterious powers pulling political strings. The desire to explain suffering, evil and death leads people to postulate sin, karma and other magical mechanisms as drivers of the world.

But it is not true that everything happens for a reason — there are no masterminds pulling the strings. Human beings are usually more incompetent than omnipotent. The world is indifferent to our desire to make meaning. Sometimes things work out well, other times, they fall apart. Events occur without any explanation other than probability, coincidence and random chance.

The philosophical cure for conspiracies is well known, and involves wisdom and moderation. We need better thinking and greater emotional control. A soul in turmoil cannot think clearly, nor is it possible to see the truth when you are stuck in the orbit of a black hole of baloney.

It would be wonderful if we could create a society in which distrust, alienation, disinformation and polarization were not so pervasive. But that ideal is beyond our reach. Freedom of speech and of the press are important values, whose side-effects are rumors, gossip and nonsense.

The real solution is education: We can benefit from training in critical thinking and emotional regulation. In wondering whether some conspiracy is true, we need to ask ourselves what it would take to know it, and whether other explanations are more plausible.

We should also monitor our intake of information. Knowing that intellectual black holes exist can help us avoid them. It is useful to understand that interested parties prey upon gullible minds. In the end, we are each responsible for thinking better and for slowing the spread of hogwash that pollutes the information ecosystem.

Read more at: https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article311973215.html#storylink=cpy