Skip to main content
Religious Freedom Toolkit

Part IV | Select Quotes from Church Leaders

Category A | Frameworks

Topic 3 | Fairness for all

“Fairness for all” is a principled approach for seeking the mutual vindication of multiple important rights and interests, such as religious freedom and nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI). The basic idea is that, before attempting to balance or trade off rights against one another, we should look for ways to simultaneously expand protections for rights that are, or seem to be, in conflict, or to limit each in narrow and principled ways.

◆ ◆ ◆

Elder Ronald A. Rasband: Freedom, kindness and fairness for all of God’s children  

“Our beloved prophet, Russell M. Nelson, has further expressed:

‘We believe in freedom, kindness, and fairness for all of God’s children.

‘We are all brothers and sisters, each one a child of a loving Father in Heaven. His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, invites all to come to Him, “black and white, bond and free, male and female” (2 Nephi 26:33).’”

◆ ◆ ◆

Elder Ulisses Soares: Establish the common good through a fairness for all approach.  

“In the political and civic arena, one way to establish the common good is to take a fairness for all approach. Complicated issues such as immigration, sexuality, identity, and religion call for extra empathy. Today’s media environment pushes people to see these differences as a battle of winner-takes-all—a damaging worldview that says you have to lose for me to win. But in so many cases involving sincere disagreements, balance between competing interests, not a war pitting one against another, is a more humane practice for democracy.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Elder Quentin L. Cook: Those who want their rights protected must be willing to protect the rights of everyone else.

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints asserts that those who want their rights protected must be willing to protect the rights of everyone else; we call this ‘Fairness for All.’ Our doctrinal commitment to be compassionate requires us to support these basic rights and to treat everyone with civility and respect.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Elder Lance B. Wickman: Space to live according to core beliefs  

“What does ‘fairness for all’ mean? At bottom, it means that every person—including people of faith and their religious communities—should have enough space to live according to their core beliefs so long as they don’t harm the fundamental rights of others. It means pluralism. It means a fair opportunity for each person to participate in society, professions, the job market, and commerce. It means looking for less-burdensome alternatives when accomplishing important objectives. It means balancing competing interests so that as many people as possible can live as equal citizens according to their deepest values and needs.

Such balancing is not a precise science. No one can have all they want. It requires dialogue, understanding, goodwill, principled stances, hard compromises, and a willingness to adjust so that our laws and communities make space for everyone. It requires—as the Savior required— that we be peacemakers.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: Protecting religious freedom requires earnest engagement, civil dialogue, and compromise.

“So what should be our approach to protecting religious freedom when religious rights are perceived to conflict with rights that others say are important to them? First, we should remember that protecting religious freedom protects the space we all need to live according to our most deeply held beliefs and values, where we’re free to act according to conscience. All people—even those who aren’t religious—have a stake in protecting religious freedom for this reason. In most cases this approach will require earnest engagement, civil dialogue, and even compromise. Given the divisions in our culture and politics, this will not be easy. However, an approach seeking ‘fairness for all’ can be an effective way forward.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Elder Dale G. Renlund: Defending the rights of others  

“We applaud all who defend the rights of others to pursue their religious beliefs, and we are grateful for their efforts. We believe that societies should create space and protection for everyone to live according to their conscience without infringing on the rights and safety of others. When the rights of one group collide with the rights of another, the principle to follow is fairness for all. In our opinion, religious freedom is not only good for societies; it is good for the individual religions themselves. Religious freedom sets people of faith free to do good.”

◆ ◆ ◆

President Dallin H. Oaks: Seeking balance, not total victory  

“First, parties with different view on the relationship between church and state should advocate and act with civility. . . .

Second, on the big issues that divide adversaries on these issues, both sides should seek a balance, not a total victory. For example, religionists should not seek a veto over all nondiscrimination laws that offend their religion, and the proponents of nondiscrimination should not seek a veto over all assertions of religious freedom. Both sides in big controversies like this should seek to understand the other’s position and seek practical accommodations that provide fairness for all and total dominance for neither.”

◆ ◆ ◆

President Dallin H. Oaks: Respect for Marriage Act provides religious freedom protections  

“[T]he Respect for Marriage Act included valuable provisions to assure that no federal or state laws could be used to harm the religious or conscience rights of faith-based institutions or their members. In the end, the total law ensures that religious organizations, religious schools, and their staff do not have to perform or host same-sex marriages or celebrations. It protects the tax-exempt status of religious organizations. It protects the grants, licenses, contracts and accreditation of religious schools. And it specifically provides that its own provisions cannot be used to violate anyone’s rights to religious freedom. Putting such protections in the federal law was a big step forward.”

Previous - Topic 3 Analysis
See also Religious Freedom Library
Next - Topic 4 Summary