Like the right to life, the right to religious freedom is God-ordained. Therefore, civil government can neither grant that right nor take it away—freedom of religion is simply inherent to who we are as God’s created beings. Our Founding Fathers saw this right as so foundational, they declared it to be our “First Freedom,” the first of the freedoms declared in the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution. The importance of religious freedom is also stated clearly in the Minnesota Constitution:

…The right of every man to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience shall never be infringed; nor shall any man be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship, or to maintain any religious or ecclesiastical ministry, against his consent; nor shall any control of or interference with the rights of conscience  be permitted, or any preference be given by law to any religious establishment or mode of worship… (Art. I, Sec. 16)

Therefore, we support efforts to protect religious freedom for all.