If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.

— Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, 1943

We’re living in a time when a bad choice of words (much less a deeply held countercultural opinion) can tank your career, in a media environment where some are doing a near-professional job of elevating being offensive to an art form—almost begging to be “canceled” by those who care about maintaining at least a kindergarten-level decorum. Our culture wars have blinded us—gone are the deepest underpinnings of pluralism, where legitimately held beliefs are respected, even when they clash fiercely with our own. Never mind being canceled, this environment has many of us self-editing—choosing simply to not express ourselves so as to avoid risk altogether. So how’s a person to live free in a culture that’s this hostile and toxic to diverse opinion? 

As happened in the landmark Supreme Court case where Christian leaders fought for the right for Native worshippers to use peyote in their ceremonies, might there be another way, a movement where we defend each other’s right to do and say things we might not understand so that we might also be free?

Recommended listening: The Supreme Court v. Peyote. Recommended reading: The Supreme Court Case That Exemplifies Our Culture War Blindness. 

You can sign up for one of our Witch Trials Podcast Clubs where we’ll listen together to “The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling” and discuss. You can sign up for more information here. Please bring a friend who doesn’t look or think like you.

Joining us for this God Squad are Father Tim Holeda of St. Thomas More Co-Cathedral, Joseph Davis Jr. of Truth Gatherers Community Church, Betsy Ouellette Zierden former Pastor at Good Samaritan UMC, and Josh Hall of First Baptist Church.