Thomas Jefferson, founding father of
the United States and founder of
the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in
the early 1800s.
Now, more than two centuries later,
the balance between religious freedom and non-discrimination in
a pluralistic society is the focus of a national debate
and the subject of a landmark address given at UVA by
President Dallin H. Oaks, an Apostle of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Prior to the speech, he and his wife, Kristen,
spent the day on the historic campus.
He then delivered the 2021 Joseph Smith lecture
on religious liberty in the famed dome room in the Rotunda,
and it drew a distinguished audience.
I begin with the proposition that I hope all we share. As
a practical basis for co-existence,
we should accept the reality that we are fellow citizens who need
each other. This requires us to accept some laws we dislike
and to live peacefully with some whose personal values differ
from our own.
Elder Oaks has these amazing legal credentials,
but he’s also a very respected and senior religious leader,
So I think people both in the religion side and in
the legal side should listen.
Another basic imperative is that we should not seek total
dominance for our own position. We should seek fairness for all.
Specifically, people of faith should not contest every
nondiscrimination law or policy that could possibly impinge,
however insignificantly on institutional
or individual religious freedom.
Likewise, proponents of nondiscrimination
need not contest every religious freedom exemption from
nondiscrimination laws.
The goals of both sides are best served by resolving differences
through mutual respect,
shared understanding and good-faith negotiations,
and both must accept and respect the rule of law.
Well, I think it's an important and historic speech for
a senior leader of a pretty conservative church to say We
need to accept nondiscrimination laws.
We need to respect our fellow Americans whom we deeply disagree
with on important moral issues.
We need to find a way to live together. That's hugely important.
Teachings based on faith in God, however defined,
have always contributed to moral actions that benefit
the entire nation. This will continue to be so
as religious people love and serve their neighbors as
an expression of their love of God.
Followers of Christ also have
a duty to seek harmony. Where there are conflicts,
all should seek peace.
Tonight, he was speaking primarily to people of faith
and telling us, “You need to compromise for the sake of unity.”
There are people out there who have been deeply hurt
and deeply wounded. And our duty as citizens—
and I would add as Christians— is to understand that pain
and to do everything we possibly can to address it.
I earnestly invite all religious leaders
and associations to coalesce more effectively—
and that often means out of court— to seek peaceful resolutions
of painful conflicts between religious freedom
and non-discrimination.
This does not require
an examination of doctrinal differences
or even our many elements of belief.
All that is necessary for unity and
a broad coalition to promote our common need
for religious freedom is our shared conviction that God has
commanded us to love one another,
including our neighbors with different beliefs and cultures.
We knew that we would be taught,
but I think this was something that we couldn't have imagined.
The authority with which he spoke, the wisdom,
the sense of urgency he conveyed,
and what he thinks we need to do.
Let us unite with those who advocate non-discrimination
to seek a culture and laws that respect the rights of all to
the equal protection of the law and the right to
the free exercise of religion. As I talk to my
colleagues who are in attendance,
they heard the message and they welcomed it,
and they look forward to what the future might hold.