Religious Liberty - Foundation of Freedom
- Janine Hansen
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
Nevada Families for Freedom
State Affiliate National Eagle Forum
53rd Anniversary
6556 Coal Mine Canyon Road, Elko, Nevada 89801, 775-397-6859, Sparks 775-356-0105
Editor: Janine Hansen
July 2026, In the Year of Our Lord
Volume 53, Number 5 Email version
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” John Adams
Religious Liberty---Foundation of Freedom
The 250th birthday of America, the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, brings to our minds the importance of protecting and preserving our fundamental liberties. It is critical that we revisit those fundamental liberties.
The U.S. Constitution was passed on September 17, 1787 and then two years later the Bill of Rights was passed by Congress in 1789 and ratified by the states in December 1791. George Mason, a Virginia delegate to the Constitutional Convention. refused to sign the Constitution because it lacked a Bill of Rights. His opposition was important to the Bill of Rights being added to the Constitution.
The First Amendment embodies four essential liberties, but the first one is, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…’
This provision guaranteed to all Americans the right to enjoy the free exercise of religion of their choice without the government giving any preference to one “establishment” or denomination over another. It is important to remember that at the time of the passage of the Bill of Rights about half of the states still had established religions supported by tax dollars. The Bill of Rights only applied to the Federal Government.
One of the three things Thomas Jefferson had placed on his tombstone along with writing the Declaration of Independence and Father of the University of Virginia was that he was the author of the Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom. He first introduced it in 1777 but it was never passed by the Virginia Assembly until nine years later in 1786.
Patrick Henry identified why freedom of religion was a foundational principle. “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason people of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.”
It’s also important to remember that the founders recognized religion as critical to maintaining our liberty. In his Farewell Address George Washington wrote, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion…Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail to the exclusion of religious principle. It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.’
Where America stands. In 1956, 49% of American adults attended church every week. Fifty years ago (mid-1970s), about 40% to 42% of American adults reported attending religious services weekly. In 2026, about 30% of U.S. adults attend religious services regularly, with about 21% attending weekly and 9% attending almost every week. Positive change is happening. Gen Z (18 and older) and Millennial Christians average roughly 22 to 23 church services per year, out-attending Baby Boomers and Generation X.
Canada Passas C-9 Hate Crime Bill
Threatens Religious Liberty
This should be a warning to the U.S.
Canada’s Bill C-9 (the Combatting Hate Act) passed final votes in Parliament on June 17, 2026, and received Royal Assent on June 18, 2026. The law will formally come into force on July 18, 2026.
Faith groups fear someone could be prosecuted under the new law for holding a sincere religious belief based on their faith's teachings.
Paul Lawton, director of grassroots action for the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada, expressed displeasure at how the government ultimately disregarded the wishes of this unprecedented coalition.
“We are disappointed by the government’s insistence on removing the religious defence clause in the face of so much public opposition,” said Lawton. “Canadians logged hundreds of thousands of phone calls to MPs and Senators, sent them hundreds of thousands of postcards and attended countless rallies and events to express their opposition to Bill C-9. This is a sad day for freedom of speech and freedom of religion, not just for Christians, but for all Canadians.”
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops president Bishop Pierre Goudreault underscored the importance of the sincere religious speech defence (which was removed from the bill) in a Dec. 4 letter primarily addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“This narrowly framed exemption has served for many years as an essential safeguard to ensure that Canadians are not criminally prosecuted for their sincere, truth-seeking expression of beliefs made without animus and grounded in long-standing religious traditions,” wrote Goudreault. “Courts have made clear that only the most extreme forms of speech fall within the scope of hate-propaganda offences.”
Cardinal Frank Leo of Toronto also called for better protection of religious freedom in the bill. He told Senators in a March 27th letter that “it is vital, therefore, that an unequivocal clarification be added to the bill making it abundantly and unmistakably clear that the reading of religious texts, as well as teaching and preaching, are not in any way considered the intentional promotion of hatred of any kind.” https://www.catholicregister.org/item/4056-parliament-passes-bill-c-9-into-law
Nevada’s Religious Foundations
In Article 1 Section 4 of the Nevada Constitution states, “Liberty of conscience. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship without discrimination or preference shall forever be allowed in this State…the liberty of conscience hereby secured…”
Even before Nevada’s constitution was passed the territorial legislature in the Ordinance of Nevada after prohibiting slavery stated, “That perfect toleration of religious sentiment shall be secured, and no inhabitant of said state shall ever be molested, in person or property, on account of his or her mode of religious worship.”
Unfortunately, two newer amendments to our Constitution undermine our religious liberty. The first one, Article 1 Section 21 was the original Marriage between a Man and a Woman passed by 70% of the people in 2002. However, this was repealed in 2020 and now reads, “…shall recognize marriages…regardless of gender.” Thankfully, these words were included, “Religious organizations and members of the clergy have the right to refuse to solemnize a marriage, and no person has the right to make any claim against a religious organization or member of the clergy for such a refusal.”
However, it does not protect the religious liberty of individuals or businesses.
In Nevada in 2021 the Nevada Legislature passed a constitutional amendment for a state Equal Rights Amendment. The people of Nevada voted for it in November of 2022 by 58%. It now defines the basis of Nevada law. Most people who voted for Question 1 in 2022, didn’t realize that when enforced this will be the ultimate anti-Christian hate crime legislation.
Nevada’s ERA, just like the state ERA’s in New Mexico and Connecticut, will be used to mandate taxpayer funding for abortions up to birth and prohibit laws which require parental consent for a minor to procure an abortion.
Because the specific language of Nevada’s ERA, includes sexual orientation, gender identity and age, it will be used for gender transition treatments such as puberty blockers and surgery, and for mental health problems associated with gender dysphoria without parental consent. This has made Nevada a haven for gender doctors and clinics.
Nevada’s State ERA could jeopardize religious liberty for churches (which could lose their tax-exempt status), their staff, their ministries and their clergy. Pro-life doctors, business owners and employees, students in government and private schools and individuals who speak Biblical principles including marriage and the sanctity of life could lose their religious liberty and inalienable right to speech, having their religious beliefs condemned as “hate speech” by the “politically correct” speech police.
So far, enforcement of the State ERA has been limited. But it is on the books. That is why we must be vigilant and pray in thankfulness for our religious liberty and for God’s protection of our liberties.
The Northwest Ordinance and the Teaching of Religion, Morality and Knowledge
In 1787 the same year the Constitution was written by the Convention and passed by Congress, that Congress approved the Northwest Ordinance. In it they outlawed slavery in the Northwest Territory and enunciated the basic rights of citizens in language similar to the later Bill of Rights. Interestingly, in Article 3 they stated, “Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”
Religion and morality were not required by the Founders as merely an intellectual exercise, but they positively declared their conviction that these were essential ingredients needed for “good government and the happiness of mankind.” We have certainly lost sight of the purpose and vision of our founders for the schools.
Quotes on Religious Liberty
“The constitutional freedom of religion [is] the most inalienable and sacred of all human rights.” — Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States.
“To those who cite the First Amendment as reason for excluding God from more and more of our institutions and everyday life, may I just say: The First Amendment of the Constitution was not written to protect the people of this country from religious values; it was written to protect religious values from government tyranny.” —Ronald Reagan, Address to Alabama State Legislature
“There is not a single instance in history in which civil liberty was lost, and religious liberty preserved entire. If therefore we yield up our temporal property, we at the same time deliver the conscience into bondage.” —John Witherspoon, The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men
“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” James Madison
Please keep our efforts in your prayers.
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Poll: Almost Half of Americans Struggle to Afford Food and Fuel, 07/08/2026
Nearly half of Americans reported difficulty affording everyday necessities such as groceries and gas, according to a new Harris Poll conducted for The Guardian.
The survey found that 95% of respondents believe the U.S. is experiencing an affordability crisis. Separately, a Gallup poll released in April 2026 found that 55% of Americans believe their financial situation is getting worse, the highest percentage recorded since the survey began in 2001.
Economic Pessimism Crosses Party Lines
The affordability struggle crosses party lines, the Harris Poll found. About half of all Democrats, Republicans and independents said they are having trouble affording everyday necessities like gas and groceries.
However, the data show a sharp drop in GOP optimism. In February, 49% of Republicans said the economy was getting better; by July, only 27% said the same, according to the poll. Meanwhile, 38% of Republicans now say the economy is worsening, up from 22% in February.
Rural Americans, a key GOP base, have soured sharply. Sixty-four percent of rural respondents said the economy is getting worse, compared with 46% who said the same in February.
Rural respondents were also the most likely to say that good job opportunities have disappeared over the past year and that tariffs have negatively affected American manufacturing jobs, the poll found. The growing pessimism poses a problem for the GOP as it tries to maintain its narrow majority in Congress during the upcoming midterm elections [2].
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