The recent lawsuit filed by Quaker groups against the federal government highlights an issue on which conservatives seem increasingly prone to waffle: the sanctity of religious freedom and the protection of churches from government overreach . Conservatives often advocate for robust enforcement of immigration laws already on the books. Such is meet and right. But we also must remain legally and logically consistent in defending constitutional rights, especially the First Amendment’s promise of the freedom to worship free from government force and coercion. David Bumgardner ICE raids in local churches set a dangerous precedent and are an explicit affront to legal and ethical principles endemic to American law. For millennia, houses of worship have been recognized as places of refuge, a concept dating back to biblical Cities of Refuge (see Numbers 35:6-34). In the early days of Christendom in the Roman Empire, Emperor Theodosius granted churches the right to offer sanctuary and shelter to refugees and fugitives. This later was codified in the Codex Theodosianus (438 AD). These ancient principles shaped the American legal tradition. The colonies deliberately rejected England’s heritage of tumultuous civic religion, including the English Civil War, the execution of Charles I, the disastrous Lord Protectorate […]

By : Markus McDowell