Carter Says Religious Freedom Endangered

Religious freedom in America is fast becoming endangered, Yale Professor of Law Stephen Carter told an audience of about 50 on Saturday morning at the Law School's Langdell Hall.

Carter, in an hour-long speech, spoke about the key issues surrounding his newest book, The Culture of Disbelief. In the book, Carter says that religion and the freedom to practice whichever religion Americans so choose are being infringed upon by the law.

"Religions serve genuine and important purposes in the lives of the people they affect," Carter said in his speech. "Separation of church and state is a response to fear of the power of government."

Carter said the law does not fully respect certain religious groups' rights to practice freely. One example he gave was the government's decision to ban the use of peyote, which is an illegal narcotic, in some Native American religious ceremonies.

"By denying them the right to use peyote, the courts are, in essence, denying them the right to practice their religion," Carter said.

According to Carter, some groups whose religious beliefs conflict with the law should be able to practice nevertheless.

"Why should some groups be allowed to break the laws?" asked Carter. "Because in no other way can the courts play a role of religious understanding."

Carter acknowledged that this current debate over how much religion freedom should be granted to Americans is a complex and contorversial one.

"You can't ever fully predict how people will be affected by such changes," Carter said. "If you tell a group that their religion must be bypassed for the law, it is a major disruption in their lives."

Carter suggested the concept of "democratic intermediaries"--groups who who could negotiate between the state and its citizens to promote understanding.

"[Intermediaries] are only possible in a society respectful of its religious diversity," Carter said.

Though he appeared to give a very dim appraisal of the current situation, Carter ended on an optimistic note.

"I am more confident than the courts seem to be in their ability to balance these conflicting factors," he said.