Book Review
“Of making many books there is no end. . . “ Ecclesiastes 12:12 NRSV
Religious Liberty: “Hanging By a Thread?”
By Randy Hyde
In an article entitled “10 Things You Need to Know About Religious Liberty,” Sally Steenland points out that there are people who think religious liberty in this country “is hanging by a thread.” Such claims, she says, are apocalyptic and wrong. I agree. As long as we have the First Amendment to the Constitution, an amendment championed by 18th century Baptists, religious liberty is, and will remain, alive and well in our nation. And that is the reason we are here today, to do what we can to assure it remains so.
Those in our state government who are attempting to stifle the free religious expression of Rev. Griffen are targeting him for expressing his religious convictions, convictions they simply dislike. This is a matter of disagreement, not of his breeching the law or not keeping faith with his position as a circuit judge.
Wendell Griffen has the inalienable right to his religious views regardless of how unpopular they may be in some circles. And that is true even of judges. Rev. Griffen is in the unique position of being both a judge and a minister of the gospel. The fact that he is a judge does not preclude him from behaving like a preacher, which is what he was doing on Good Friday.
The Arkansas Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2015 declares that “there is not a higher protection offered by the State than the protection of a person’s right to religious freedom.” It is time to put that declaration into practice by providing Rev. Griffen the freedom of the Constitution to exercise his God-given right.
There are two basic elements to the First Amendment. One is the freedom to worship as one pleases. That is not at issue here, at least not directly. The second one is however. In this nation, people have the freedom to practice their faith as they see fit, apart from government’s establishment of religion or the threat that comes when such practice is unpopular in the circles of governmental power.
In the case of Rev. Griffen, we, his colleagues in ministry, stand with him today and urge the state’s political alarmists to allow him to practice his faith freely.
Wendell Griffen, as a minister, shares his message from the prophetic perspective of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. His Good Friday demonstration, held with the presence and blessing of his congregation, was his attempt to express the religious theme of the day. Knowing Rev. Griffen is to be fully aware that his judicial objectivity is not tempered by his religious conviction, nor are his religious convictions governed by his judicial activity. He has the unique ability, necessarily so, to differentiate from the two. We stand in solidarity with our colleague this day and all the days to come as he exercises freely his religious rights.
Randy L. Hyde is Senior Pastor at Pulaski Heights Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas and can be reached at rhyde@phbclr.com 501-766-1233
