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Religious Freedom Toolkit

Part III | Expanded Analysis

Category E | Perspectives

Topic 26 | Navigating other differences

Religious freedom helps us navigate other differences. When we become comfortable and adept at navigating religious differences, we become better at handling other differences and disagreements. This is true on both an individual and a societal level.677

Beyond contention: Key principles  

Religion is a deeply profound and personal matter of the heart. It is no wonder, then, that religious differences are often some of the most divisive and contentious issues of our day. One scholar has noted that “[r]eligion . . . is a double-edged sword. It can cause conflict or abate it.”678 It is perhaps an ironic and counterintuitive truth, then, that religious freedom is actually an antidote to the contention, hatred, and intolerance created by sharp religious disputes. Indeed, religious freedom has much to teach us about resolving conflicts based on other differences as well. Several key principles support this point.

First, religious freedom encourages peaceful coexistence with others despite our differences.679 Religious freedom preaches tolerance, respect, civility, and human dignity. It enables and encourages us to listen to, learn from, and live with those who think, believe, or act differently than us.

Second, and relatedly, peaceful coexistence depends not on the absence of difference but on how we deal with those differences. Religious freedom encourages us to create common ground, build trust through interfaith dialogue, and work with others to find practical solutions so that we can peacefully coexist despite our differences.

Third, it is important to remember that an approach to divisive issues based on religious freedom does not imply endorsement or acceptance of others’ views. We can respect those whose perspectives and beliefs differ from ours without compromising our own core principles or beliefs. We can recognize the good that comes from other viewpoints, beliefs, or opinions, and even learn from those who espouse them without having to adopt them ourselves.

These principles of religious freedom, discussed in greater detail below, can teach us how to navigate various significant and sensitive types of differences—from political differences to differences based on race, ethnicity, language, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other characteristics.

Religious freedom encourages peaceful coexistence with others despite our differences.  

In 1785, James Madison penned an eloquent defense of religious freedom, titled Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments. Among his arguments, he noted that a society built on one particular religion or belief system will only lead to oppression and conflict, while a society built on principles of religious freedom will flourish.680 Religious freedom works to resolve conflicts—even those based on the most bitter religious disputes—because it does not seek to put one religion above another, or even religious belief above non-religious belief.681 Instead, it encourages peaceful coexistence among various faith traditions, denominations, and beliefs.

Importantly, this peaceful coexistence does not depend on the absence of difference. Differences will always exist.682 A key principle of religious freedom is that government and society should not seek to impose on all citizens uniformity in the form of a particular religion, faith tradition, or belief system.683 This principle suggests there is no need to eliminate religious differences in order to live together in peace; rather, we must learn how to live together peacefully with those differences.

The first step is to frame the situation correctly, with recognition that differences are inevitable and likely immutable. Take, for example, the conflict surrounding religious freedom and nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In the United States, there are “[m]illions of devout religious people . . . [who] believe in traditional marriage and consider same-sex marriage to be sinful and unacceptable.”684 Alternately, there are “millions of LGBT people in the United States[,] [m]any [of whom] are in loving, long-term relationships and have joined together in same-sex marriage.”685 Neither community is “going to go away or immediately change their beliefs[,] . . . their identity[, or their] relationships.”686 Thus, the starting point for meaningful resolution of any conflict between both “sides” has to be an acknowledgment that opposing beliefs are not going away. One side cannot force or bully the other into abandoning their deeply held beliefs or identities. As one scholar explains, “Applying peaceful coexistence to the challenging question of reconciling [differences] begins by assuming the possibility of a peaceful coexistence between different communities.”687

Peaceful coexistence depends not on the absence of difference but on how we deal with those differences.  

Envisioning the peaceful coexistence of different communities is key, but differences commonly and increasingly cause sharp divides in society—divides marked by a lack of respect for, and empathy with, those on the “other side.”688

Religious freedom, exercised well, is the antidote to this problem. In its purest form, religious freedom does not simply guarantee the right for us to worship in separate faith-specific silos. Because it allows differences to flourish, and helps us feel secure in maintaining and expressing our differences,689 religious freedom fosters confidence to engage with others in meaningful ways without threatening that we must abandon our differences. It encourages us to build trust and empathy through dialogue, seek to find or create common ground, and work with others to find practical solutions in our differences.

In 1993, the Inter Faith Network for the United Kingdom developed a helpful guide titled Building Good Relations with People of Different Faiths and Beliefs.690 The following strategies call on us to exercise our own right to freedom of religion or belief—and to respect that right in others—in navigating our differences:

First and foremost, when dealing with those who are different, we must demonstrate respect and civility.691 This includes

  • respecting their freedom within the law to express their thoughts, beliefs, and opinions;

  • respecting their right to maintain particular convictions or practices, even when they sharply differ from our own;

  • recognizing that everyone falls short of the ideals of their own beliefs, values, or traditions;

  • respecting the right of others to disagree with us;

  • avoiding imposing ourselves and our views on others; and

  • avoiding any violent action or language, hatred, intolerance, threats, manipulation, or the misuse of any kind of power.692

Second, we must learn how to talk about our differences with sensitivity, honesty, and straightforwardness.693 This includes

  • learning to really listen to and understand others—their experiences, perspectives, concerns, and fears;

  • acknowledging the legitimacy others’ experiences, perspectives, concerns, and fears;694

  • not vilifying or dehumanizing those who think or believe differently than us;695

  • being honest about our own thoughts, beliefs, and practices; and

  • not seeking total dominance for our own position but seeking to resolve differences through mutual respect, shared understanding, and good faith negotiations.696

These same principles and strategies we use, and lessons we learn, in navigating religious differences can help us navigate other differences—including differences of opinion, political differences, or differences based on other categories of unlawful discrimination, such as race, ethnicity, language, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. (See, for example, below.) They can also be used at all levels of engagement with others, whether interpersonal, interorganizational, or international.

Religious freedom does not imply endorsement.  

Another key principle in navigating religious differences is that respecting and engaging with others does not imply endorsement of their beliefs. We can have respect for others, and for their respective religions, without signaling wholesale endorsement of those religions as being “correct,” “best,” or “equally true.” It is possible to give space for others to live their religion without compromising our own innermost core principles or beliefs.697

An example of this principle is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ stance on marriage and their involvement in the “Utah Compromise” legislation.698 Prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), which legalized same-sex marriage in the United States, the Church had “exercised its constitutional right to express its position that the traditional legal definition of marriage should be preserved.”699 Yet at the same time, the Church was working with LGBTQ and antidiscrimination advocates to discuss their concerns about housing and employment discrimination in Utah and to find common ground. The resulting legislation in 2015 prioritized both nondiscrimination and religious freedom and allowed both “sides” to receive protections under the law in areas that most concerned them.700 Neither the Church nor LGBTQ advocates compromised or abandoned their views on marriage to engage in meaningful dialogue and work together to create practical solutions to the issues before them.

A note on “divine envy.” We can admire or even be “envious” of certain dimensions of others’ faith, traditions, or practices without endorsing them or viewing them as superior to our own. Mahatma Gandhi, who was a staunch advocate of multi-faith understanding and respect, once stated, “My respectful study of other’s [sic] religion has not abated my reverence for, or my faith in, the Hindu scriptures. They have indeed left their deep mark upon my understanding of the Hindu scriptures. They have broadened my view of life.”701 There can be an element of “divine envy” that accompanies our interactions with others. We can recognize and draw the good from others while at the same time holding fast to our own beliefs, thoughts, and values. Indeed, “We have a great deal to learn from one another which can enrich us without undermining our own identities.”702

Conclusion  

When we create a society built on principles of religious freedom, we become better equipped to navigate religious differences. That is because religious freedom encourages groups and individuals to peacefully coexist with differences, encourages the civil resolution of conflicts in a way that respects and preserves differences, and allows us to acknowledge and learn from the good in others without requiring us to abandon our beliefs. Individuals and communities who become more comfortable with and adept at applying these principles will be better skilled at resolving other differences and disagreements that arise—particularly those involving deeply held values and beliefs.

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References

677. Toolkit Topic 26 (Navigating other differences) was originally drafted by Elyse Slabaugh, 2022 ICLRS Summer Fellow.

678. Douglas M. Johnston, Religion and Conflict Resolution, 20 FLETCHER FORUM OF WORLD AFFAIRS 53, 53 (1996).

679. See News Release, An Introduction to Religious Freedom, THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS (Jan. 3, 2012), https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/introduction-religious-freedom (“Since the potential for animosity is greatest where differences are most profound or where majorities dominate, freedom of religion is critical because it allows people with differing convictions about the deepest matters of truth to live together peacefully”).

680. James Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, [ca. 20 June] 1785, FOUNDERS ONLINE: NATIONAL ARCHIVES, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/01-08-02-0163 (“Torrents of blood have been spilt in the old world, by vain attempts of the secular arm, to extinguish Religious discord, by proscribing all difference in Religious opinion. Time has at length revealed the true remedy [to conflict]. Every relaxation of narrow and rigorous policy, wherever it has been tried, has been found to assuage the disease.”).

681. See An Introduction to Religious Freedom, supra (“The breadth of religious freedom and its relationship with freedom of conscience helps explain why religious freedom is important for everyone, not just for people of faith.”).

682. Differences will always exist due in no small part to the eternal principle of agency. See Helaman 14:3.

683. U.S. CONSTITUTION, amend. I. (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . .”)

684. Alan Brownstein, Choosing Among Non-Negotiated Surrender, Negotiated Protection of Liberty and Equality, or Learning and Earning Empathy, in RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, LGBT RIGHTS, AND THE PROSPECTS FOR COMMON GROUND 11, 12 (William N. Eskridge, Jr. & Robin Fretwell Wilson eds., 2019).

685. Id.

686. Id.

687. See Alex Deagon, Creating Peaceful Coexistence Through Virtue: A Theological Approach to Institutional Religious Freedom, Equality, and the First Amendment 1, 4 (Liberty & Law Center Research Paper No. 22-01, 2022).

688. For example, a 2016 Pew Research Center study on public attitudes regarding religious liberty and nondiscrimination found that “[r]elatively few took the opportunity to express at least some sympathy for both sides”—only 18% of those surveyed. WHERE THE PUBLIC STANDS ON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY VS. NONDISCRIMINATION, PEW RESEARCH CENTER (Sept. 28, 2016), http://www.pewforum.org/2016/09/28/where-the-public-stands-on-religious-liberty-vs-non discrimination (link to report PDF).

689. See JOHN LOCKE, A LETTER CONCERNING TOLERATION 41–42 (William Popple trans., 1689), https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Letter_Concerning_Toleration_Written_b/L9jYMVtd7vsC?hl=en&gbpv=0 (“There is only one thing which gathers people into seditious commotions, and that is oppression. . . . [H]ow much greater will be the security of government where all good subjects, of whatsoever Church they be, without any distinction upon account of religion, enjoying the same favour of the prince and the same benefit of the laws, shall become the common support and guard of it, and where none will have any occasion to fear the severity of the laws but those that do injuries to their neighbours and offend against the civil peace?” (spellings and capitalization modernized)).

690. Building Good Relationships with People of Different Faiths and Beliefs, THE INTER FAITH NETWORK FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM, https://www.interfaith.org.uk/resources/building-good-relations-with-people-of-different-faiths-and-beliefs (last visited Dec. 2024) (The Inter Faith Network for the United Kingdom disbanded in January 2025 due to withdrawal of government funding.)

691. Id.

692. Id.

693. Id.

694. Brownstein, supra, at 14.

695. Dallin H. Oaks, Going Forward with Religious Freedom and Nondiscrimination, ICLRS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM LIBRARY (Nov. 12, 2021), https://www.religiousfreedomlibrary.org/documents/going-forward-with-religious-freedom-nondiscrimination (“We must not be part of . . . ‘”a culture of contempt”—a habit of seeing people who disagree with us not as merely incorrect or misguided but as worthless.’ [In the conflict between religious freedom and nondiscrimination,] a basic step is to avoid labeling our adversaries with epithets such as ‘godless’ or ‘bigots.’”).

696. Id.

697. See Lance B. Wickman, Religious Freedom in a Secular Age: Fundamental Principles, Practical Priorities, and Fairness for All, ICLRS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM LIBRARY (July 7, 2016), https://www.religiousfreedomlibrary.org/documents/promoting-religious-freedom-in-a-secular-age-fundamental-principles-practical-priorities--fairness-for-all (Keynote speech given at 2016 Religious Freedom Annual Review, Brigham Young University).

698. Oakes, supra.

699. Id.

700. Id.

701. Ajai R. Singh & Shakuntala A. Singh, Gandhi on Religion, Faith, and Conversion: Secular Blueprint Relevant Today, 2(1) MENS SANA MONOGRAPH 79, 81 (2004).

702. Building Good Relationships with People of Different Faiths and Beliefs, supra.