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Religious Freedom Toolkit

Part IV | Select Quotes from Church Leaders

Category B | Principles

Topic 9 | Religious identity

For many people, their religious identity is as foundational and constitutive of their personal identity as other components of identity such as race, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity are to other people’s sense of identity. Religious identity should be recognized and respected along with other identities.

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Elder D. Todd Christofferson: Religion is the foundation of our lives and the very center of our identities.  

“Religious liberty is essential for protecting human dignity. For millions of believers from diverse religious backgrounds, religion is not a hobby, pastime, or social club. It is, rather, the foundation of our lives and the very center of our identities. Our religious identities constitute who we are and how we understand the purpose of life, the meaning of death, and our hope for what lies beyond this mortal sojourn.

Religion is central to the familial and community traditions and practices that sustain and give meaning to our lives, from birth to death. The naming and blessing of children; coming-of-age ceremonies; sabbath worship and daily prayers; marriage rituals; burial rites—these and many other religious practices are the rhythm of our lives. Our religious institutions are places of belonging where we gather in the company and strength of fellow believers. Houses of worship where we commune with God, religious schools and colleges where we teach our children, and religious charities where we serve the poor—are all essential to our faith communities. (And these religious institutions need to be able to decide for themselves what religious leaders will lead the communities and teach the faith to the rising generation.)

The state’s failure to provide legal protection for these and many other fundamental aspects of religious life imposes grave harm on its religious citizens. No liberal democracy can be free and respect the human dignity of all its citizens if it fails to protect and accommodate the right freely to practice one’s religion.”

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Elder David A. Bednar: Religion is the very center of our lives and the core of our identity.

“For billions of people around the world, religion is the very center of our lives and the core of our identity. Our faith calls upon us to love God above all else. It defines who and what we are, how we understand the meaning of our lives, and how we live each day. It is the source of our strength, consolation, and hope amidst sorrow, travail, and death. Faith traditions are the incubators and shapers of family and community life, creating and sustaining the spiritual ties that link and bind people together. Religion transmits moral and social truths to the next generation. Can anything be more vital?

Our faith is more than just important to our dignity as human beings; it is essential!”

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Elder L. Whitney Clayton: Misconstruing religious faith as a mere choice or preference  

“My point is that misconstruing religious faith as a mere choice or preference—as something that can be adopted and discarded at will—radically misconceives the nature of religion in the lives of millions of faithful people. It makes light of faith, treating it, in the words of the Supreme Court, as ‘something insubstantial and even insincere.’ It reduces a way of life and a state of being to a pastime. It takes an identity that, for millions, is vastly more important and profound than race, color, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation, education, profession, wealth, and so on and dismisses it as trivial or something to grow out of, like a childhood belief in Santa Claus.”

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Elder Neil L. Andersen: For billions of believers, religion is what defines us.  

“For billions of believers around the world, religion is what defines us. It’s what gives us meaning and brings us joy. It sustains us when times are difficult. Full human flourishing is unlikely without religion. While in many Western societies people point to a declining role for religion—as more and more people identify themselves as unaffiliated or ‘spiritual but not religious’—that doesn’t hold true for most of the world.”

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Elder D. Todd Christofferson: Religion is a way of life bound up with personal identity and dignity.  

“As you review these and other statements by modern apostles, notice that the freedom being spoken of is not merely what political philosophers have referred to as the ‘negative’ freedom to be left alone, however important that may be. Rather, they speak of a much richer ‘positive’ freedom—the freedom to live one’s religion in a legal, political, and social environment that is tolerant, respectful, and accommodating of religion. For the faithful, religion is not just a private hobby but a way of life bound up with one’s personal identity and dignity.”

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See also Religious Freedom Library
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