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We have an interesting mix of classes here.
First, I have notes from Elder Holland’s devotional that he
gave during the week at the Marriott Center. Its theme was religious freedom.
Then, I have about three classes on religious freedom issues—defending
it, talking about it, defining it, etc.
Lastly, notes from a class about defending marriage with
statistical data. There’s some technical stuff there, but also some surprising
insights to extract. Enjoy!
Devotional – Elder Holland (August 20116)
(Impression: All the people
are at BYU and the presence of BYU is because of the testimony of Jesus and the
restoration. Praise to the Lord for his great works in moving all those people
and creating all those things.)
“I guess we can fire in any
direction” (said as he looks at all the people 360 degrees around him )
One of his professors of BYU
wrote a hymn text to “Our Savior’s Love”
The Spirit’s voice whispers
a better choice to us than evil. We are bound to God by loving ties.
Loving ties >>
religion.
Our English word religion
comes form Latin releger “to tie” or “re-tie”
A word like “ligature” which
is used to sew us up if we have a wound.
Religion unites what was
separated or torn apart. We need this with our trials of life.
The great conflict is being
intensified in our time and affect a wider segment of our culture. The outcome truly matters in eternity
and life as well.
There’s no significant
example of any society retaining moral life without aid from religion.
Then we should be bothered
by the assertion that secularism is the greatest thing.
Elder Maxwell was prophetic
in 1978 when he said “we shall see in our time a maximum effort to establish
irreligion as the state religion”. They use our freedoms to shrink freedoms,
while shrinking Judeo-Christian values.
When religious convictions
are heavily discounted, they will disallow opinions because they are out of
religious convictions.
This is being fulfilled
every day somewhere in minimization and hostility toward practice, expression,
and the idea of religious belief itself.
Some consider themselves
still spiritual, but that doesn’t offer collective moral influence in
society. But the past walked and
talked in an environment of spirituality.
We don’t live in isolation,
we live in society and family, . That calls for ties that binds us to the
good.
Not all faith groups are all
true or equally valuable. They are
not an infallible solution to society challenges.
But faith is the highest
impulse, so living one’s religion is a compliment. Living to a higher level of morality, trying to hold the
social-political fabric of community together. That fabric wears thin from time to time.
Elder Hafen says democracy’s
core of religion is under siege by criminals who seem to have religious
motives. Transmittal is being polluted. Advocates today are imposing their
views by coercion and intimidation.
Many forces today that
contribute to the irreligion.
Part of the shift away is
part has come from a shift toward pro-occupation with existential circumstances
of this world and not the life of the next world. Existentialism on
steroids. It can’t
answer the questions of the soul, or sustain in times of crisis.
Secularists forget the people
who seek meaning, and modern institutions don’t provide it.
Modern tech gives us personal freedom and
unlimited knowledge and communication, but it can’t give us moral guidance on
how to use that freedom, what the best purpose of it.
Religion can provide that meaning.
If we lose the divine
elements, we lose much in life.
Society is stuck in an iron
cage of disbelief. Society gives away its priceless spiritual roots. Polar
night of icy darkness lies ahead. (1904)
Not everyone agrees religion
should weigh so heavily. Dawkins is a militant atheist. May have surface
profundity, but deep down superficiality.
They still have to whistle
past the graveyard.
Atheism have vacuous
arguments, is contemptible.
No one can say we aren’t
seeing glaciers on the move (a la polar night of icy darkness referred to before). Faith
seems like only one possibility among others. It’s no longer axiomatic. It’s an
embattled option.
Faith has always been an
embattled option, won and kept with a price. Some find the price higher than
they can pay. But consequences are worse. This is like the man who took down
his fence and found his neighbor had vicious Rottweiler’s.
Rich social fabric doesn’t
say anything about the condition of the soul after death or the traditional
marriage.
Religion is the
principle influence keeping western life moral. Religion has no monopoly on moral action, but religious
institutions shape our notions of right and wrong. It’s the vehicle most folks
use to learn and practice morality.
If we’re not careful, we may
see religion on the margins rather than the center, when good works aren’t
encouraged publically, but tolerated privately.
This is a warning.
We’re certain how this turns
out. Promises given to the
faithful. Our beliefs are strong and resilient. The evidence is around us.
1) Religious-influenced
non-LDS literature—need freedom for artists and writers to express religious
issues. KJV bible. The greatest
single influence on literature in the last 400 years. John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. Poems like Dante’s Divine Comedy and Milton’s Paradise Lost.
Moby Dick, Scarlet Letter, Huck Finn. Each is a religious text,
meaningful. Dostoevsky, Tolstoy,
Blake, Browning, O’Conner, Auden, Yeats, Lots of religious questions in every page.
(Impression: Read and
discuss with others)
2) Visual arts and
musicians: Sistine chapel. (arts and music presentation)
Where would we be without
the sights and sounds of religion?
Religious faith has proven
itself the most powerful and enduring force in human history. It remains deep, widespread, and
persistent, to others’ surprise. It is underestimated.
It is an influence for good
in the world.
That’s why religion matters.
It deepens our conversation, strengthens our collective aspiration. It’s impossible to calculate the impact
prophets have had on us. We are
who we are because some people chose to be martyred in order to keep religion
alive in the world.
3) The core landscape of
history is sketched by those who invoke the divine in our lives.
Steeples point upward and
ignore despair. They challenge
doubt and invite to consolation.
Apostolic witness of truths
of religion’s gift. True religion the gospel gives us much more. Peace in this
world, and eternal life in the world to come. Brings understanding of and
loyalty to God, it engenders faith in Christ and hope in resurrection,
encourages love and forbearance.
Mercy of Christ. Holland prays for the continuing privilege to speak of
all of this. Cherish and live the
principles we want to preserve. Only in living it will the preservation have
true meaning. Seek the good of our fellows.
Trends affecting Religious Freedom (A class we walked entered in the middle)
--increasing secularization
--apathy toward the
importance of religious freedom
--growing relativism
--rise of competing human
rights
--burgeoning state
(including authoritarian) regimes
--growing Islamic pressures
--massive flow of immigrants
and refugees (brings in a more
diverse group that create tensions that can cause government to take certain
actions)
--Greater security
concerns (Face of Europe has
changed forever. 1.5 million refugees going into Germany, mostly Islamic.)
Germany has mostly helped them. Other countries have security concerns. Tendency to close borders and restrict
movement and restrict expression.
--Rise of Privacy rights.
(also seen in the US)
UK case study:
Out-of-school Education and Counter-terrorism Initiative
--proposed concept for
future legislation
--requires registration and
inspection of organizations providing intensive out-of-school education of
youth (has implications for: seminary, church, mutual)
--Defines “intensive” as 6-8
hours or more per week
--illegal to teach contrary
to “shared” or “British” values (British values are undefined and might change)
(Who is proposing this? Why?
And what’s the agenda?)
--A Teacher found in
violation may be issued “extremist disruption order” (EDO), labeling teacher on
public records as an extremist
--Breach by teacher of EDO
may result in criminal conviction and up to 5 years imprisonment.
Church is meeting with other
churches to express reservations about these proposals and their adverse
effects.
Home schooling supposedly
wouldn’t be affected. This mostly focuses on institutions. But home schoolers may be part of an
institution for resource.
EU Case Study: Equal
Treatment Directive (ETD)
--Prohibits discrimination
on grounds of disability, age, religion, and sexual identity in the supply of
goods or services.
--If passed, ETD will
require all 28 member states to legislate to implement (Has passed in other
countries, but Germany is standing in the way)
--A violation occurs if a
complainant feels subjectively “offended” or “harassed” (has no standard for
what it is)
--There is no defense for
defendant acting from conscience or religious belief
--The burden of proof is
reversed; defendant must prove innocence (not innocent until proven guilty)
(must show that they didn’t do it) (It’s hard to prove a negative)
--A violation is criminal
and quasi-criminal sanctions
--State-funded authorities
will seek out cases and assist complainants
--Complainant need not be
the person “offended” or “harassed”
(others may be offended in proxy)
The church is monitoring
this and is engaging with other organizations about the mischief-making aspects
of the document.
(Most destructive
legislation is cloaked in the guise of something good.)
What force does the
directive have? None right now. If Germany agreed, the other hold-outs would
fall into line.
The church’s basic concern
about it is: What about church members trying to individually live their
religion?
What can I do?
--Educate yourself, pay
attention to the news. Subscribe to International Center for Religious Studies
--Engage in your profession
and community (be examples of religious freedom)
--watch for developments
--stand up for religious freedom
in your individual capacity (Engage with civility, clarity, and kindness. Don’t
be shrill.)
--Support organizations that
promote religious freedom
--Be an example of the
believers.
Modern Challenges to Religious Freedom: At Work, at
School, in Our Communities: Religious Freedom in Your Home Town (by Matthew K.
Richards)
One question: “What can I do
in my community to help religious freedom?”
The brethren have left it up
to us to find ideas on this.
HOW to become involved?
“The assault on moral
principles and religious freedom has never been stronger. We must preserve
light and protect our families and communities from this assault.” (Elder Cook) This has been repeated by other apostles.
Religious freedom is belief,
worship, and acting on our beliefs. Living our lives in faith. Right to
manifest faith. Government can
limit this if it impacts health and safety.
We want to extend that right
to others as well.
www.freedom-of-religion.org
A sketch of the threats:
Free expression – Will
religious viewpoints be suppressed?
Will parents be able to keep
religious values from being undermined in the schoolroom?
Will employees be able to be
accommodated when work and religion conflict?
A woman was denied
employment at Abercrombie and Fitch because she wore a headscarf.
Will individuals be denied
credentials for expressing religious views?
Will family and religiously
oriented business be able to maintain their values in the face of
anti-discrimination laws?
Will schools be able to
maintain values while retaining accredititation and ability to participate in
federal education and research programs?
Canada would not admit
graduates of a religious law school to the bar because of their honor code.
Will campus student groups
be able to select their own leaders or express a religious message? Many universities have all-comers
policies that prevent LDS SSA policies?
Freedom from retaliation --Will
those who voice beliefs be free from retaliation?
Will churches that affirm
marriage lose their tax-exempt status? Will donors tithing be tax-deductible?
Will churches be able to
employ people who affirm their beliefs?
Will churches be able to
build and maintain facilities?
Will religious organization
get to participate in activities in equal measure with other organizations?
We still have MANY freedoms,
according to the Pew Forum. 75% of
the world lives in countries with restricted religious freedom. But restrictions are increasing.
Be watchful and try to
preserve freedom.
HOW do we do this?
Run to receive the blessings
of agency by following the Holy Ghost and exercise our freedom of religion.
--become informed
--join with others
--work side-by-side to
protect religious freedom
--be examples
Active involvement
--Let fairness be your guide
in treatment of others
--Disagree without being
disagreeable
--Respect the ability of others
to make choices and ask for that consideration
--Stand up for fairness
--Engage in dialogue , find
solutions for how to best extend fairness to everyone, including people of
faith.
--Don’t shy away from the
dialogue.
With courage, conviction,
and civility, each one of us can make a profound difference.
Things may get worse before
they get better, but this is our moment. We can make a profound difference.
--Religious voices are
vitally important to our country
--It is time to get involved
and take a stand for religious freedom
Every viewpoint is welcome
and should be considered in the marketplace of ideas.
We know what it means to
suffer, because we minister to those who suffer.
--Study the principles of
the American founding and teach families about it.
--Teach children to respect
the faith of all people, even those we disagree with.
--Speak up. Don’t be
intimidated and silenced. We have a right to be heard.
--Speak out with courage and
civility.
--Get involved. Lift where
you stand. It is a cultural crisis as well as a legal one.
--Be active in PTA and in
the school board. It will depend on what our children are taught.
--Be involved as business
people, in political party, write to representatives.
--Be an example of the
believers, in charity, faith, purity, etc. Live so others will see our good works .
Americans tend to protect
what they see as good, so let them see the good.
When they see our good, they
will believe us when we say freedom is being abridged, even if they don’t
understand the issue fully.
The church isn’t going to
organize people to do this, they want us to be individually involved and not
political.
Use our ingenuity and follow
the Holy Ghost.
Study
--Learn why religious
freedom matters and is threatened today
--Stay abreast of what is
happening in your community
--Study principles of the
American founding and teach them
--Learn the perspectives of
others to enable respectful civil dialogue.
--Teach families religious
freedom means tolerating beliefs, speech, and practices are respected.
Get involved
--Vote
--Write your representatives
--Join cultural or civic
organizations—PTA, professional associations, business networks, political
parties
--Lift where you stand.
--Put yourself in a position
so that when you say something on an important matter others will listen.
Speak up:
--Speak out with courage and
civility
--Join or donate to
organizations that promote religious freedom
--Never imply that you
represent a specific organization like the Church
--Don’t let yourself be
silenced
Be an example:
--Show respect, serve, be
authentic, be an example
Take Heart:
--don’t’ be intimidated, be
optimistic, determined, be excited
You can make a difference if
you’re involved.
Stories of friends who
were involved and made a difference:
- Ben Houston: Inaugurated Mormonism 101 discussions
in the community. Donates time to religious liberty causes and
organizations. Collected resources
for stake leaders to teach Sunday lessons.
- Liz Bountiful: Volunteers on Community councils and
PTA, running for school board. She’s learned the power of listening.
- Nolan in SLC: Regularly
councils with his family about current events and religious freedom. Writes
letters to adult children.
- Ron in NYC: Natural ways to talk about religious
freedom issues to members and co-workers. He brings colleagues to events at
which the importance of religious freedom is discussed.
- Jeff: Attended a religious freedom rally in
Iowa State capital and spoke
- Shirene: Started an interfaith network for Ivy
League college students so students could connect
- Sharon: Started a nonprofit.
Learned how to promote family and religious freedom in important UN documents.
- Michael in Provo: Blogs on
social media, writes newspaper editorials even though he has cerebral palsy
- Benton: Spearheaded a local
conference on religious freedom for ministers of several local faiths. This started
with talking to a client and they collaborated together on it.
- Ali in Chandler: Joined an
interfaith women’s organization promoting motherhood. Meets with policy makers,
active in social media, holds gatherings in her home.
- Michael in Kansas City:
Started Religious Freedom in 30 Seconds contest. [I actually entered this contest last year and won a special mention for a slogan.] Writes op eds.
- Greg: Saw how religious
freedom could help business, mentioned it to a friend, helped him start a major
international organization promoting religious freedom in business as a form of
corporate social responsibility to help them compete in a global
environment. Connected with
the UN. “Religious Freedom is Good for Business”
- Belinda: serves on community
boards, Library Foundation, which gives her a voice in local policy. She asked,
“Help us to know what you don’t like about building a church in your community
and help us to what your problem is”
to the local community leaders.
“We need to have [list of needs for our church] so what can we do?” They eventually decided it was
okay.
Practicing what we preach is
important.
Fight for laws, circumstances,
and conditions that let us have religious freedom.
Captain Moroni prayed that
the freedom of the land might be favored. And the people came running together
Idea: Religious freedom T-shirts
We don’t comprehend how
significant we are and what we can collectively accomplish.
The elders of Israel will
protect and sustain civil and religious liberty and every constitutional right
and spread these rights abroad for the salvation of all nations. (Brigham
Young)
There is a battle over the
meaning of religious freedom. The contest is of eternal importance. Our
generation must understand these issues and make the efforts to prevail. (Elder
Oaks)
What Can I Do to Promote Religious Freedom: How to Discuss
Why Religion and Religious Freedom Are Important (by Michael D. Frandsen) (Michael Frandsen is in the church public affairs department. He isn’t a
lawyer.)
How do we engage with others
who disagree with us?
There used to be broad
support for religious freedom with the 1993 Religious Freedom act.
People throw around accusations
of bigotry and hate too easily.
“Prelude to another Kristallnacht” Opponents of the bill “hate America” >>Two
different opinions on the same legislation-- Indiana Religious Freedom
Restoration Act 2015
We may have cultural
differences, but we should not have culture wars.
Americans have selective
support for Religious Freedom based on how suspicious they are of a particular
religious group.
The same principle that
would trample on one group’s rights would trample on all others who are too
weak to defend themselves.
We have to teach and defend
the truths of the gospel while surrounded with those who disagree with
ourselves.
We have to be witnesses of
God, not be ashamed, but avoid contention and not stir up hearts with anger.
Tolerance doesn’t require us
to abandon our principles.
Tolerance is one side, truth is on the other side of the coin.
An example : Samantha in
class. (film)
Seeking fairness for
all.
--Agree with the adversary,
see things from their point of view
--Humble yourself
--Listen to see why they
feel that way.
--Pray for understanding
--It is helpful to engage
one-on-one instead of with an audience.
--Understanding takes some
time
We want people to acknowledge
our views are decent and reasonable.
We must make the case why
religious freedom is important. Why is religious freedom important to you?
77% of people live in
societies where religious freedom is restricted
--Religion is core to who we
are.
--Good dialogue causes the
truth to rise to the top.
Alexander Dushku says “We
try to say it is vital by talking about it as a constitutional right, but it isn’t
convincing. Rights talk is too
impersonal. Start with the
personal.”
MAKE IT PERSONAL. WHY IS IT CORE TO WHO YOU ARE?
Why is religious freedom
important to society?
--Many things secularists want
to do, religious people are already doing. Watch the Mormons and study what they’re doing. (Ross
Douthat)
--Religious freedom has unique protections for those
acting according to religious beliefs.
--Religion helps people
internalize the norms of moral behavior without external force. Our government assumes people are going
to do the right thing, and we need to be able to teach that in order to
continue it.
--Religion builds social
capital. Donate to charity, volunteer for causes.
--Highly religious people are
engaged in families, communities, and happier with their lives.
Why is religious freedom
important to everyone?
--It protects the space we all
need to act according to our beliefs.
--Civil society is not
motivated by politics or profit. People voluntarily act to solve problems
without the power of government or the orthodoxy of dominant culture..
--Defined by the rights of the first
amendment—speech, press, association, assembly, petition. This space helps us be calm in changing
governments.
--Reciprocity – Assume you
won’t always like those in power or they won’t always like you. So protect
space to act on what’s important to you. Tables are always eventually
turned. You will need that space
yourself someday.
--Rights are not rights unless
they apply equally to all.
--Fairness for everyone,
including people of faith.
Question: Teacher told child
he’s not allowed to write about prayer in a personal school journal. How to teach the child about their
rights?
Religious Freedom Center –
website with info about specific things schools can or can’t do + other helpful
resources [http://www.religiousfreedomcenter.org/]
Mormon newsroom has videos
about religious freedom
Audience member experience
shared: A junior high English teacher brought in literary moral statements for
the students to journal about. Some examples were “To thine own self be
true..then though canst not be false to any man.” “Oh what a tangled web we
weave when we practice to deceive.” Some students didn’t know what “deceive”
meant. The students loved the
exercises and felt they were getting something their parents and other teachers
had never given them.
Defending Marriage With Data: Understanding the Social
Science Research on Same-Sex Marriage
(by Joseph P. Price IV) (For more on this man, Google Joseph Price, BYU economics)
Starts with introduction to
statistical terms. --Need to know the technical details of the studies.
We experience one study
saying one thing and another study says another.
John Adams says facts are
stubborn things, and our wishes don’t alter the state of facts.
Everyone is entitled to his
own opinion, but not to his own facts.
Background: material in this
class is from the church research department, Michigan SSM case, annual
conference of the Virginia bar association
About studies, ask:
“Who did they compare in the study?”
“How big was the sample
size?”
“Where did they get their
sample?”
“What factors did they
control for?”
This should tell us when a
study is good or bad.
Questions “Do children
raised by same-sex marriages have worse outcomes than father-mother-raised
children?”
“How many children are being
raised by same-sex couples?”
[Lots of tables were
included, none of which I can reproduce for my notes]
“Why might it be helpful for
everyone to have some familiarity with statistical analysis?” There’s a debate
about whether this should be in education.
Statistical inference =
“Process of drawing conclusions from data that are subject to random variation
such as observational error or sampling variation”
A few important principles:
confidence interval, representative sample, replication.
Confidence – cone of truth
Representative sample – do people
surveyed represent the desired population
Replication – data collected
is similar data from other people
No difference hypothesis:
“People want to say there is no difference in child outcomes”
Examples: “There is no
difference in child outcomes, stability rates for children of same-sex couples”
It is harder to say groups
are not different than different
--They may be different, or
sample size might be set up wrong, or there might be errors in data. Errors might be too noisy.
Give a margin of error a
confidence interval and specify values for which we are 95% sure what the true
difference is.
Some groups are so small
that nationally representative datasets won’t contain enough of that group to
do meaningful research.
Less than 5% children are
raised by same-sex couples.
Two approaches:
Rosenfield (2010) study. Use
an even larger sample to begin with
(not much same-sex marriage couples with children)
Regnerus (2012) oversample
certain types of people
The studies can be very
expensive. Regnerus tried to include people in the sample.
Replication.
Expanding the boundaries of
science is hard if we aren’t able to replicate past results and build on that
research done by others.
Regnerus posted data
immediately so others could try it too and look at the data.
On the other hand, most of
the 59 studies cited by American Psychological Association (APA) use data can’t
be used by other scholars.
When data is private, trust
should go down.
People don’t think BYU has
academic freedom, but being at BYU means he is the only one who does.
Michigan case. “Do outcomes differ between children
with father-mother versus SSM?”
59 cases had tons of
problems in their study, but they had perceived strength in numbers.
Same-sex couples major
issues and critiques:
--convenience sampling: not
many randomly drawn samples of children. They used word-of-mouth to find people,
which isn’t random
--small sample sizes: too
small to allow for statistically powerful tests
--excluding gay fathers:
only 7 of 45 studies included gay fathers
Rosenfeld uses decennial
census data to solve these problems. But he couldn’t pick the questions.
Comparing heterosexual
couples married, with lesbian-cohabiting, gay male, cohabiting (gay could be
also brothers or sisters or non-related couples, who not gay)
Found 1.71% hetero couple
kids held back, 2.4—gay couple kids held back.
Used same data and controls,
Recreated data from scratch
Compared with data Rosenfeld
shared
Worst outcomes from
non-married parents. (This has been known for a long time)
15% more odds of doing well
in a school as kid of heterosexual couple
Rosenfeld had two
restrictions – biological related to household head, child living in the same
address with same parents for at least five years.
Consequence of these
restrictions – eliminated over half of the available sample, remove two
channels that show structure affects children (relatedness and stability) (This
takes main reasons marriage is good out of the study!!)
Removing either of the two
sample restrictions results in the differences being very significant (25%
different)
Primary motivation for
stability restriction is to insure that family structure reflects the structure
before being held back.
“delayed progress through
school is a widely used proxy for prior grade retention) There is no way to
tell what grade a kid has been in.
Should look at 11, 15 year olds.
Rosenfeld contribution is
important, it used a sample larger than past research and shaped future
research.
Doing good social science is
hard and requires attention to detail. (We all have blind spots)
Media doesn’t care about the
details and just want sound bites.
Rosenfeld’s data is
accessible, allowing his research to be replicated.
Regnerus (2012)
Children of lesbian mothers
--are more likely to be
currently cohabiting
--are almost 4 times more
likely to be currently on public assistance
--are more than 3 times more
likely to be unemployed
--are nearly 4 times more
likely to identify as something other than entirely heterosexual
--are 3 times as likely to
have an affair while married or cohabiting
--are 11 times more likely
to have been touched sexually by a parent or other adult caregiver in childhood
(but not by necessarily by homosexual parent)
His study was a
well-constructed study.
How many children are being
raised by a same-sex parent?
How many children are raised
by gay/lesbian couple?
Past estimates are anything
from 14 million to 1-9 million.
Numbers get created and then cited over and over.
Actual study estimated 1-2
million.
.23% children raised by two
women
Ask the question “how big is
the B (bisexual) group in the LGBT?”
B raises a lot of questions.
In the past, LG advocates
included B numbers because they wanted their numbers to seem bigger, but now
they want those numbers to go away because it raises other questions.
What does Bisexual
mean?
It means at some point they
had a sexual relationship with same sex, but they aren’t currently and may be
married to opposite sex.
Bisexuals look more like
hetero. Thus, LGBT numbers are probably 6-7 times bigger
than they should be. We have no
data about how these things evolve over time and it has implications for
protected class stuff. (i.e. “How
far does the “born like this” argument really go?”)
There are implications about
how we agree about how we treat kids in custody cases.
