Religious freedom gets boost from new law

Gov. Bob Holden has signed into law Senate Bill 13, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau, the act goes a long way toward restoring reason and balance to the exercise of religious freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Passed with lopsided bipartisan support, the act says that before the government can enforce a law that infringes on religious practice, the government must demonstrate that it has a compelling interest and that the law is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.

Many cases around the nation demonstrate the need for this law.

In Texas, absent a RFRA statute, a Catholic church was prevented from implementing a desperately needed expansion by a completely inflexible historic landmark designation. In Missouri, a devout Seventh-day Adventist was forced to violate his Sabbath and appear in court on Saturday. Without RFRA, basic accommodation of prisoner religious needs is often denied. Without RFRA, practices ranging from candlelight services to the consumption of kosher and halal meat could be imperiled. Without RFRA, certain religious bans on unnecessary autopsies could be ignored.

RFRA doesn't mandate that government accommodate every religious practice. Bans on polygamy and the use of certain hallucinogenic drugs wouldn't be touched by RFRA. Rather, in recognition of the historic protection accorded religious freedom in America, it merely forces government to demonstrate a very good reason for limiting such a practice.

RFRA is a big step forward in restoring religious liberty.