The Religious Freedom Restoration Act
Breakpoint
Colson Center
4.8 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 11 October 2023
⏱️ 1 minutes
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Summary
Imagine Congress was considering a bill to protect "religious liberty." Let's say the bill's author openly admitted his intention was to "allow maximum religious freedom." Maybe he says he's concerned about attempted governmental restrictions on Christian religious expression in particular.
Now imagine what the reaction to such a proposal would be on "X," formerly known as Twitter. Surely this would be labeled "Christian Nationalism." Congress would be accused of trying to establish a theocracy.
What if I told you that bill was real, and that it was called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and that it was introduced by one Democratic Representative Chuck Schumer and signed into law by President Bill Clinton 30 years ago next month?
It's remarkable how quickly and dramatically the Overton Window has shifted in 30 years. It's important to remember that RFRA was widely supported and uncontroversial up until about five minutes ago. Christians shouldn't be ashamed or bullied into believing that the right to live out our faith is asking too much. The truth remains: Everyone benefits when the government respects "maximum religious freedom."
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | With a woman to look at culture from a Christian worldview, I'm John Stone Street with a point. |
| 0:05.1 | Imagine that Congress was considering a bill to protect religious liberty and the author |
| 0:09.2 | openly admitted that his intention was to allow maximum religious freedom everywhere, maybe |
| 0:14.3 | he said he's concerned about attempted governmental restrictions on Christian religious expression |
| 0:19.1 | in particular. |
| 0:20.1 | Now imagine what the reaction would be on X or what's formerly known as Twitter. |
| 0:24.1 | This would surely be labeled Christian nationalism, Congress would be accused of trying to establish |
| 0:28.3 | a theocracy. |
| 0:29.3 | Well, I gotta tell you, the bill is real, and it was passed a long time ago, 30 years |
| 0:33.8 | to be exact. |
| 0:34.8 | It was called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. |
| 0:37.0 | It was introduced by Democratic Representative Chuck Schumer. |
| 0:40.4 | It was signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton. |
| 0:43.6 | It's remarkable just how quickly and dramatically the Overton window about religious freedom |
| 0:48.4 | has shifted in the last three decades. |
| 0:50.5 | It's important to remember that Refra was widely supported and uncontroversial up until |
| 0:55.7 | just recently. |
| 0:56.7 | Christian should not be ashamed of religious freedom, nor should we be bullied into believing |
| 1:00.8 | that to protect religious freedom is to force our religion on other people. |
| 1:04.8 | The truth remains, everyone benefits when the government respects maximum religious freedom. |
| 1:10.4 | For the Colson Set, I'm John Stone Street with a Point. |
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