(ANALYSIS) Close your eyes. When you think of religious freedom, what comes to mind?

Do you picture a vibrant community expressing their sacred beliefs through art, music, and meditative practices?

Or does the term conjure thoughts of conflict, discord, and news headlines filled with words like “polarization” and “persecution?”

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Chances are, the former scenario may resonate more. Or, perhaps, you might draw a complete blank, associating religious freedom solely with legal jargon. The truth is, religious freedom struggles with its image today, and understandably so.

Protecting religious freedom of Indigenous communities

In the United States, those advocating for religious freedom historically wielded considerable political and cultural influence, often fitting a particular mold: white, male, Protestant and heteronormative. This has shaped the understanding of religious liberty, often aligning it with Protestant Christian norms. Unfortunately, this perspective doesn't fully embrace the distinctiveness of other spiritual and religious belief systems. For example, according to Michael McNulty, author of “Defend the Sacred,” this creates challenges for protecting Indigenous religious freedom through legal measures.

McNulty's observation is poignant: “Religion as a category has failed to capture what's distinctive about Indigenous religions, which are deeply tied to specific peoples and their harmonious existence within specific lands and waters.”

This discrepancy poses hurdles in legal matters involving Native Americans. The traditional understanding of 'religion' falls short in fully encompassing the intrinsic nature of Indigenous belief systems, intimately interwoven with distinct geographical locations and communities.

A striking case illustrating this flaw is the destruction and subsequent legal battle over a Native American sacred site in Oregon. In Slockish v. U.S. Department of Transportation, members of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde petitioned the Supreme Court to protect their sacred land.

The struggle to protect Indigenous spiritual places within the country's legal framework reflects an ongoing challenge. However, there’s a glimmer of hope seen in the federal government's recent settlement with Indigenous communities in the case discussed above. The federal government in October committed to restore a sacred stone site, replant indigenous trees, and recognize its historical significance. 

Carol Logan, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, said: “Our sacred places may not look like the buildings where most Americans worship, but they deserve the same protection, dignity, and respect. It is heartbreaking that even today the federal government continues to threaten and destroy Native American sacred sites, but I’m hopeful that our story and this settlement agreement can help prevent similar injustices in the future.”

Religious freedom as a precondition to spiritual flourishing for all

This instance reflects a hope I hold dearly for our present and future generations: A hope that governments, NGOs, financial institutions and all those in positions of power will challenge their assumptions about the significance of diverse expressions of the Sacred in human life. We don’t necessarily have to believe that every spiritual path leads to the same telos, but we should deeply honor and protect the panoply of spiritual and religious belief systems and expressions, recognizing them as vital aspects of our humanity.

As an orthodox Christian who has spent the last 15 years advancing religious freedom, I hold a profound regard for historic religious traditions and their institutional practices. This includes those faithfully upholding sacred ethics that have spanned millennia within their faith communities. My concern extends beyond mere belief to the preservation of spiritual and religious freedom embodied. It's not only about the ability to believe privately but also to practice openly, both within faith communities and in the public sphere. Equally important to me is ensuring that all spiritual and religious communities, whether within or outside organized religion, possess that same freedom to practice and express their most sacred animating beliefs.

This is particularly relevant in our current moment. A recent Pew Research Center study on Spirituality Among Americans highlights a notable shift in the nation's religious landscape. While traditional religious affiliations are declining, a significant segment of the population embraces beliefs in a spiritual dimension beyond religious labels. Notably, 83% acknowledge the existence of a soul or spirit alongside their physical being, while 81% recognize a transcendence beyond the observable natural world.

Interestingly, Pew’s findings indicate a nuanced relationship between religious and spiritual engagement. Although more individuals attend religious gatherings, with 39% in religious communities compared to 14% in spiritual ones, there's an intriguing overlap. About 10% are involved in both types of communities, while only 4% exclusively engage in spiritual gatherings. Overall, this research underscores that 70% of American adults exhibit various forms of spiritual inclination, either self-identifying as spiritual individuals or emphasizing the importance of spirituality in their lives, irrespective of religious affiliations.

Moreover, Pew's insights shed light on distinct perspectives among individuals identifying as Spiritual But Not Religious (SBNRs). A significant 71% of SBNRs believe in inherent spiritual elements in nature, a perspective markedly differing from the 46% among those who identify as both religious and spiritual. Notably, the study underscores that: "Most spiritual but not religious Americans believe animals, parts of nature, and graveyards can have spirits or spiritual energies."

This research serves as a crucial reflection point, especially for politically and theologically conservative communities. Recognizing diverse spiritual paths and ensuring freedom to embody sacred beliefs is an essential precondition for social and spiritual flourishing. If discovering how to authentically love and comprehend the Sacred is at the core of understanding “what it means to be human,” then denying the religious and spiritual freedom required for this exploration strips away our collective potential to thrive in both material and immaterial realms.

A hopeful shift

Hope resides in those who champion spiritual freedom for diverse spiritual and religious communities. The freedom to explore varied spiritual paths, even those conflicting with one's beliefs, is crucial in nurturing an environment where secular materialism doesn't dominate our families, communities, public spaces, educational systems, marketplaces, and every facet of human and natural existence.

Recently, there has been a shift toward expanded legal advocacy by traditionally conservative religious freedom advocates toward Native American religious freedom and spiritual freedom for other groups outside of the Abrahamic traditions. For example, Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Legal Clinic recently filed an amicus brief in support of an Indigenous sacred sites case.

The amicus brief, filed in the 5th Circuit of Appeals, supports Gary Perez and Matilde Torres, two practicing members of the Lipan-Apache Native American church, in the case Perez v. City of San Antonio. For ages, across generations, the Lipan-Apache community has convened for prayer and sacred rituals at a specific curve of the Yanaguana, known as the San Antonio River in English.

This spot holds profound significance in the Yanaguana creation myth, narrating the origins of life as water drops falling from a cormorant's feathers. This location stands unparalleled globally, serving as the exclusive site for specific religious rites intertwining the river's essence, the revered cormorants, and the constellations above.

“In the past, government officials have destroyed Native American sacred sites, only to later acknowledge that such destruction was unnecessary. We hope the court will prevent the City from causing such needless suffering for the Lipan-Apache people in this case.” said Stephanie Barclay, faculty director of the Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Initiative.

Another living example of the need for traditional religious freedom advocates to advance spiritual freedom for all beyond the Abrahamic traditions is illustrated through the struggles against discrimination faced in the U.S. pagan community. Many pagans hide their beliefs out of fear of religious discrimination. In particular, practicing pagan Darrell Moore’s spiritual community, Horn and Cauldron, Church of the Earth, faced religious freedom challenges which started in 2020 when the town claimed the group needed a special permit to hold services and the permit was denied.

Eventually, this spiritual community received their freedom to gather for worship, after the ACLU stepped in, arguing the town’s denial of the permit would be a violation of the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Moore’s community recently organized events to educate the public on Paganism, to cultivate good will with other spiritual communities, and to increase religious and spiritual literacy for paganism.

These public education activities are expressions of embodied religious freedom. Moore said of paganism: “It's an Earth-centered religion. We honor nature. Rhode Island Pagan Pride Day is about education: informing the public about our faiths, and also bringing fellow practitioners together to learn from one another.”

If we aim to infuse every part of our lives with reverence — our relationships, communities, institutions, and nature — we must acknowledge that religious and spiritual freedom is crucial. These freedoms are essential for humans to fully explore their capabilities, not just in the material realm, but also in the sacred sphere. Spiritual and religious freedom enable people to embody and act upon their deepest spiritual beliefs in all aspects of life, acknowledging the spiritual significance of every element. Denying these freedoms to any group impedes our collective capacity to seek the Sacred in our own traditions, paths, and cultural and geographic contexts.

Religious and spiritual freedom are vital for humans to explore spiritual aspects across life. When these freedoms are lacking, secularism and materialism dominate, sidelining the transcendent elements of our daily existence, rendering them insignificant. Today, in my view, this is exceptionally crucial.

Rachel Minter recently highlighted in Newseek's “Artificial Intelligence Needs Spiritual Intelligence” that future AI will require this deeper human understanding, probing the ultimate meaning of life and our connectedness with the world.

As Minter wrote: “A broader conversation about faith in the public square is necessary for the preservation of human rights such as freedom of religion or belief. … The freedom to change beliefs presupposes the freedom to learn about faith. But can you learn about faith in a world dictated by secular technology? How do we protect freedom of conscience if faith is wholly excluded from the development of technology? Does freedom of religion or belief cease to exist when algor-ethics are ignored?”

In this era where the transcendent is often overlooked, advocating for spiritual and religious freedom transcends mere individual rights. It's about preserving our inherent spiritual dignity and embracing a worldview where spiritual elements like truth, goodness and beauty hold significance in every aspect of our lives. Without acknowledging and having the freedom to explore our spiritual dimensions, we risk passing on a materialistic outlook to future generations, devoid of the profound sacredness interwoven in every facet of life.

Chelsea Langston Bombino is a believer in sacred communities, a wife and a mother. She serves as a program officer with the Fetzer Institute and a fellow with the Center for Public Justice.