Sunshine on Liberty

The Bible instructs us to pray for our leaders, and I am thankful for lawmakers who apply their faith and rely on Godly wisdom to make solid decisions in accordance with Scripture. We should certainly bring our faith to work!  And, we are called to pray for our leaders, so that, in essence, according to 1st Timothy 2, we can actually do that.  The Scriptures say:
1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,
2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

A quiet and peaceable life - sounds great, doesn't it?  We should be able to live our lives for Christ unhindered by those who want to silence us or to control the way we express our love for God.

First Liberty Institute has released the findings of a new Religious Liberty in the States study. The website for the study says: "Religious Liberty in the States considers 47 distinct ways that states protect, or decline to protect, the ability of Americans to act on their religious convictions."

That's quite impressive - a comprehensive list of standards that show how devoted states are to preserving religious liberty.  

Before I share the #1 state in this year's survey, here are the others in the top 10:
10) Tennessee
9) Utah
8) Washington
7) South Carolina
6) Arkansas
5) Mississippi
4) Ohio
3) Illinois
2) Montana
and, at #1 - Florida, with a score of 74.6.

Alabama ranked a respectable 17th, with a score of 41.8.  Georgia was 36th, at 32.8.  West Virginia was 50th, with a score of 19.6.  The rest of the bottom 5: Wyoming at 49, Michigan at 48, Nebraska 47th, and Vermont at #46.

So what characteristics led to Florida being in the #1 position?   Here's an explanation from the website:

The Sunshine State protects 75 percent of the religious liberty safeguards tracked in the 2025 RLS index. This remarkable achievement reflects the state’s substantial commitment to protecting religious freedom through a wide array of legal safeguards. Florida’s statutory framework ensures that individuals can freely practice their faith in everyday life—whether in health care, education, family matters, or employment—without undue government interference. Its impressive showing includes newly adopted protections that enhance the ability of citizens to act according to their deeply held beliefs, making Florida an exemplar for other states seeking to strengthen religious liberty protections.

Apparently, one of the new safeguards placed into this year's rankings, along with an expanded variety of other items, was inspired by the way churches were treated during the COVID pandemic.  The summary of Florida's achievement stated that, "Notably, Florida was one of the states that acted quickly to protect houses of worship from government-mandated closures. This protection emerged in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as states recognized the need to ensure that religious gatherings are not treated more restrictively than comparable secular activities."  There are now 18 states with these types of protection; Illinois, for instance, does not have it.

Well, even Florida, as the report's website notes, has room for improvement - with a score of 75, that means it's falling short in 25% of the areas.  Alabama has room to grow - perhaps legislators will take note of this report and craft legislation that protect more religious freedom rights, consistent with First Amendment guarantees of freedom of religion.

Alabama Policy Institute is certainly working to provide religous liberty protection.  In a response to the previous survey, in which Alabama ranked 20th, it noted bills that were not moving forward in the Alabama Legislature in the 2025 Regular Session of the Legislature.  It stated:

Our  leadership  and lawmakers  need  to  know  that  the  people  of  Alabama  value  religious  liberty  and  we expect  them  to  represent  our  values.  Alabama’s  state  motto  is,  “We  dare  defend  our rights”.  May  we  so  all  we  can  to  defend  the first  freedom  that  our  founding  father’s acknowledged on our behalf: the right of every American (and Alabamian) of any faith to  follow  their  conscience  and  live  according  to  their  beliefs. Please  join  API  as  we ardently advocate to expand and defend religious liberty in our state.

Following the landmark 303 Creative decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, David Closson of Family Research Council wrote this:

Christians and other people of faith ought to celebrate the 303 Creative decision. No one should be compelled to create messages that violate their deeply held, religiously informed beliefs. As Gorsuch explained in the majority decision:

The First Amendment’s protections belong to all, not just to speakers whose motives the government finds worthy. In this case, Colorado seeks to force an individual to speak in ways that align with its views but defy her conscience about a matter of major significance.

Today’s decision is significant because the Court acknowledged that the belief that “marriage is a union between one man and one woman is a sincerely held conviction.” Moreover, it explained in unmistakable terms that the First Amendment protects the rights of all Americans to order their lives around these deeply held beliefs, even if they are unpopular.

We live in a nation that was founded on principles largely consistent with Scripture.  By no means are we a theocracy, we don't have a state religion.  But, the Founders took steps by including religious freedom in the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment to the Constitution. That was a deliberate effort.  In an age in which religious content is being singled out and silenced, we can pray and work to preserve these freedoms that our Founders believed that every American should have.