Q. A Mormon leader recently made a speech, in which he claimed religious freedom in America is under assault from secularization and a growing gay rights movement.
In his speech, Elder Dallin H. Oaks warned of “an alarming trajectory of events pointing toward constraining the freedom of religious speech by forcing it to give way to the ‘rights’ of those offended by such speech.” Oaks said he believes that freedom of faith is under attack not by legal means, but cultural changes and the “ascendency of moral relativism.” He stressed that these infringements affect all religions, not just Mormonism: “Christians, Jews and Muslims … should unite more effectively to preserve and strengthen the freedom to advocate and practice our religious beliefs, whatever they are.”
One critic responded to Oaks’ speech by saying, “What a certain stripe of religious adherents are asking for is actually an exemption … from laws that apply generally to everyone else — for example, nondiscrimination protections.” The critic also asked whether Elder Oaks’ words were merely “sour grapes” over criticism of the Mormon Church’s involvement in getting Proposition 8 approved in California.
