Obama and “Freedom of Worship”

The Obama Administration is endorsing “freedom of worship” rather than “freedom of religion” in its pronouncements. And many concerned about religious freedom are beginning to get alarmed about this.

Now, in case one thinks this a bit paranoid, I point out two things. First, it’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you. Second, there is an established pattern of the Obama regime avoiding saying “freedom of religion” and saying instead “freedom of worship.”

Of course, the reason this alarms is that genuine freedom of religion includes much more than the freedom to worship in one’s church, synagogue or home. It includes the freedom to live according to one’s religion (without unduly impinging on someone else’s freedom). For real freedom of religion, mere “freedom of worship” will not do.

Those who wish to push religion and freedom of religion out of the public square and into the private shadows would love a shift of U. S. policy toward such “freedom of worship.” Is the Obama regime among them?

To their credit, First Things was on to this before most. This is indeed something to watch carefully. One scholar put it very well:

As Tom Farr, Professor of Religion and World Affairs at Georgetown University and the former head of the State Department’s International Religious Freedom Office, stated at a recent congressional hearing forecasting international religious freedom issues to watch in 2010, “Those of us in the business of sniffing out rats know that this is a rhetorical shift to watch.”