‘Fundamental 101 Rule In American Life’: Ben Sasse Defends Religious Liberty From Hostile Liberals

By
Lawrence Richard
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Republican Senator Ben Sasse delivered what he described as an “eighth-grade civics lesson” on Monday afternoon, lecturing Democrats on the constitutionally-recognized inalienable right to worship freely in America.

The lesson came during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, who will attend hearings throughout this week, amid Democratic attempts to smear her as too devout of a Catholic to serve on the nation’s highest court.

“I believe Americans of all backgrounds deserve an independent Supreme Court that interprets our Constitution and laws as they are written,” Barrett defended against Democratic members of the committee.

Then Sasse jumped in to lecture his Democratic colleagues.

“Religious liberty is the basic idea that how you worship is none of the government’s business. Government can wage Wars, government can write parking tickets, but government cannot save souls,” Sasse said.

“Government’s really important, or as important. Parking tickets are important, but your soul is something that the government can’t touch. So whether you worship in a mosque or a synagogue or a church, your faith or your lack of faith is none of the government’s business,” he added.

 

“Religious liberty is one of those five great freedoms clustered in the first amendment, religion, speech, press, assembly, and protest,” Sasse continued.

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“You don’t need the government’s permission to have religious liberty. Religious liberty is the default assumption of our entire system. And because religious liberty is the fundamental 101 rule in American life, we don’t have religious tests,” the Republican also said.

“This committee isn’t in the business of deciding whether the dogma lives too loudly within someone. This committee isn’t in the business of deciding which religious beliefs are good, and which religious beliefs are bad, and which religious beliefs are weird,” Sasse concluded.