Religious Liberty In Crisis: Exercising Your Faith In An Age Of Uncertainty, by Ken Starr

Is religious liberty in crisis in the United States? As recently as five years ago I would have said that it would have been premature to say that, even if the general moral tendency of the United States (and many other places around the world) was definitely on the negative swing. That said, the disastrous and unconstitutional response of leftist governments in places like California, Oregon, Michigan, and other places to the Covid-19 disease convinced me that such corrupt leftists who viewed inconsistent public health arguments as trumping religious liberty and freedom of assembly concerns were utterly unqualified to run this nation without ruining the lives of people of faith. The author, wisely, steps into the post-Covid world of religious freedom and discusses the divergence between increasingly insensitive and corrupt left-wing assaults on religion and what amounts, at least at present, to a Supreme Court that is generally solid on issues of religious freedom. Even if the Supreme Court is reasonably solid on religious claims (if by no means perfect), the increasingly partisan divide between red and blue states on issues of religious liberty bodes very ill for the general sake of religious health in the United States if it continues to be a partisan matter.

The author’s analysis, quite sensibly, comments that there have long been corrupt politicians who have sought to pass laws that unlawfully infringed on religious freedoms for what they viewed as compelling reasons without sufficient carve-outs for people of faith. There have also, historically speaking, been plenty of corrupt judges willing to trade of religious freedoms as a part of bargains with the supposed interests of the state, as well as adopt tests that would make religious freedom difficult to pursue in the courts. The author also notes that many times decisions are made because of particular fact patterns, such as whether or not the state is being viewed as seeking to promote religious belief, as government interference in religion is generally viewed as a negative sign, whether that interference is meant positively or negatively. Although the author is perhaps best known for his service to the country during the Clinton administration, the author also has broad experience in the law and education sectors and has long been a consultant for those looking for help in religious cases before the Supreme Court. The experience and perspective he brings to such matters is quite excellent and the book makes for a thoughtful if concerning read.

In terms of its contents, this book is a relatively short one at less than 200 pages of material. An introduction gives a preliminary word about the subject of religious liberty in the United States. This is followed by a chapter that points out the overreach of government power on religious matters that has existed for a long time (1). This is followed by a discussion of the faith of our fathers–which assumes for the most part that the reader comes from a Christian, probably even a Protestant, background (2). This is followed by a discussion of America’s freedom of worship (3) as well as the constitutional combat zone of the battle over school prayer that started decades ago (4). After this the author discusses religious discrimination in the schoolhouse (5), The author discusses friends of religious liberty in the White House and Capitol Hill (6) as well as the issue of school vouchers for parochial schools (7), an area where the author has considerable experience. The author tackles the questions of whether the government can provide financial aid to religious institutions (yes) (8), the problems of the Lemon test, as well as the accommodation principle (10) that seeks to lower tensions over religious rights. After this the author discusses contemporary efforts that have been hostile to faith and the response of Congress and the courts to it (11), the importance of religious liberty to the ongoing well-being of the United States (12), and the troublesome rise of cancel culture on the part of the left (13). The book then ends with an afterword, acknowledgements, and notes.