The End of Religious Liberty in Minnesota

What shall we do?

‍‍     The End of Religious Liberty in Minnesota

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution reads as follows:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

In this way the U.S. Constitution protects our God-given right to practice Christianity as we wish. In addition, our Declaration of Independence states that the purpose of government is to secure this and other rights for all our citizens.

In spite of our founding documents, in Minnesota our God-given right to religious liberty is now being denied.

In 2023 the Minnesota legislature and governor created and passed a new category of human rights called “gender identity” which they added to the Minnesota Human Rights Act. They included no corresponding religious exemption. This means that with this new law, Minnesota government demonstrated for all to see its intent to deny religious freedom to Minnesota citizens, churches, and schools and to engage in persecution of Christians and some other religious bodies.

If the state can tell churches and schools what they can or cannot say or do on gender identity, then the state can tell churches and schools what they  can or cannot say or do on other subjects as well.

In an attempt to correct this egregious law, Rep. Harry Niska (R-Ramsey) in this current session introduced an amendment to correct this violation of our First Amendment rights. The Niska amendment, however, on February 29 and March 13 of this year, was voted down in House and Senate committees—leaving the nullification of our religious liberty in effect.

This leaves us with the following questions:

1. Does this new law criminalize using truthful pronouns in our speaking or writing, rather than false gender identity pronouns?

2. If pastors, teachers, or any citizens of Minnesota speak or write in opposition to the use of transgender hormones, transgender surgery, or puberty blockers for minors, can they be charged with a crime under Minnesota law?

3. If parents try to protect their minor children from such practices, can they be charged with a crime?

4. Can their minor children be removed from their custody if parents refuse to follow such laws?

5. And can a transgendered person be denied employment by a Christian school, church, or other Christian organization, such as Christian counselling, charitable, or prolife groups?

Minnesota government has crossed the Rubicon with this law. With similar laws in the past, the state has protected our religious liberty by including a religious exemption clause. No more. The legislature has clarified by its actions that those days are over. And the forces that be in the legislature are now working to force the acceptance of homosexuality and other perversions on us the same way.

What shall we do? Christians cannot comply with this law since we will “obey God rather than men,” (Acts 5:29). We need to

1. pray to the one true God to remove this persecution from us, and

2. pray for Him to guide us to deal with it in accordance with His will.

3. We need to lobby our legislators and governor, asking them to remove this religious persecution and to follow our U.S. Constitution. (The legislature still has the opportunity to adopt a religious exemption amendment before it adjourns at the end of May 2024.)

4. And, if no exemption is adopted, file suit against the state requiring the repeal of this unconstitutional law.   

Additionally, and, if no exemption is adopted, as a church body, we need to formulate a unified response among our congregations and among our members. We also need to formulate a unified response with like-minded church bodies. It is critical to, as much as possible, coordinate with and support one another in this very difficult time.

Last but not least we will put our trust in the God of heaven and earth, being confident that He will always be with us, looking forward to the day when He welcomes us into His victorious kingdom where there is no more pain and no more sadness, for the former things have passed away.

Respectfully submitted,

Allen Quist

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