Remember the minority, as Iowa's law does, when defending religious freedom

On April 10, Iowa celebrated its 11th annual Religious Freedom Day at the State Capitol and at Drake University. After men from the Sikh community performed a hymn in the rotunda, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a proclamation that states in part that “we all benefit from a pluralistic society where all people can work together for the common good.”

It is imperative that we remember the words “pluralistic” and “all people.” After all, religious freedom is not a concept just for Christians, but for everybody.

This is something Rekha Basu missed in her recent critique ("Christianity is not under attack, but Kim Reynolds governs like it is," April 21) of Reynolds signing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law. This new law means that Iowa cannot infringe on the free exercise of any religion unless it has a compelling government interest to do so. This includes the free exercise of the Hindu, the Buddhist, and even the member of the Satanic Temple. Any means any. All means all. Minority religions often find themselves mistreated by those in the majority, and we must protect them.

Unfortunately, we’ve lately seen a rise of mistreatment of religious minorities in the United States. According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, anti-Muslim bias last year was the highest it’s ever been “in the 28 years CAIR has tracked hate.” Disturbing antisemitism is also on the rise. According to a Department of Justice report, a university student in New York recently pleaded guilty to posting threats against the local Jewish community — threats which one person in the report described as “graphic and disturbing.” In Arizona, Native Americans face turning over Oak Flat, a long-held sacred site, to a large “foreign mining corporation” due to a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in March.  Remarkably, a coalition of Tribal Nations, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, and other faiths are showing support to defend this site.

This support of Oak Flat is the spirit of Reynolds' proclamation. It is the spirit of religious freedom. This same spirit is also captured in a quote by Joseph Smith, a leader of a small religion in the U.S. in the early 19th century. He said “I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of any denomination; for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of (our religion) would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics, or of any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend themselves.”

The purpose of religious freedom is to protect the minority and to preserve the pluralistic nature of America’s and Iowa’s religious and nonreligious landscape. As one atheist moderator at Drake remarked: “There wouldn’t be atheists without religious freedom.”

There is a need for religious freedom in the United States. Yet so often it is the minority protecting the minority. Let us remember that this country does not concern itself with just one religion. Let us continue to advocate for the religious rights of all, specifically and especially the religious minority.

Jacob Olson teaches in Marshalltown. Contact: crosscountryjacob@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Remember the minority when defending religious freedom