Faith & Justice

Volume VII, Issue 2

AN ENEMY OF THE STATECan a Christian run a business without violating his faith?

The government says no.

M i n u t e s W i t h A l a n

I‘ve always been enthralled by history. I like to know, and cherish, the impact others have made.

Give me a free day and a museum, a battlefield, the preserved home of one of my heroes—and I’m about as happy as a man can be. Give me a great book about our faith, or Washington, or Eisenhower, and airport crowds and the confined space of the airplane cabin fade for awhile.

But, of course, those kinds of days and diversions don’t come for me any more often than they come for you. In between are lots of days when I stand at the podium or sit at a microphone, talking to rooms full of people who are looking at, and listening to, me. It comes with my calling, and it’s an opportunity for me to do what this ministry is all about—enabling millions of Christians across this country to freely share their deepest beliefs in the public square.

Still, standing and speaking for Christ, and religious freedom, is different from talking about ... me. Which is why, when the people on our communications team—the media, marketing and creative specialists—come to me about filming a “CEO video,” I start to squirm.

Yes, it’s good to have something to show at banquets and events that will help people understand “Who is this guy?” charged with leading Alliance Defending Freedom, and “What makes him tick?” But there’s a reason this ministry has never been built around any one persona, and why we’ve never worked to make anyone on our

Being Candid About Camerasby Alan Sears, President, CEO and General Counsel

Volume VII, Issue 2 CONTENTS

8 AN ENEMY OF THE STATE“It’s important for me

to live every part of [my faith] wherever I go, whatever I do.

Even here at work.”

—Lemar Hahn—

4 LIVING FAITH IN A CHANGING AMERICA“We speak in a way that understands that

those who disagree with us are not our enemies.”

6 STANDING FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH ON AMERICA’S CAMPUSES“We’re getting people to talk—and that’s our goal.”

14 THEY BOW TO NO ONE IN DEFENDING PRAYER“They let us, as students, go first. People actually

wanted to hear what we had to say.”

16 ALLIANCE PROFILE: NOEL STERETT“We understand law as a calling, and our Christian faith

pretty much informs all that we do.”

C o v e r S t o r y :

Alliance Defending Freedom would enjoy hearing your comments on the stories and issues discussed in Faith & Justice. Please direct comments/questions to www.AllianceDefendingFreedom.org, call 800-835-5233, or write: Editor, Faith & Justice, Alliance Defending Freedom, 15100 N. 90th Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85260.©2014, Alliance Defending Freedom. All rights reserved.

@AllianceDefends www.AllianceDefendingFreedom.orgAlliance Defending Freedom Editor Chuck Bolte

Senior Writer Chris Potts

Design Director/Photography Bruce Ellefson

Contributors Taylor Dalton, Rachel Fisk, Olivia Jensen, Doug Napier, Lauryn Porter, Chris Potts, Alan Sears

Alliance Defending Freedom15100 N. 90th Street

Scottsdale, AZ 85260

[Phone] 800-835-5233

[Fax] 480-444-0025

Anthony Hahn enjoys an easy camaraderie with longtime Conestoga employees like Rodney Franck and Scott Werley

Alliance Defending Freedom | 3

M i n u t e s W i t h A l a n

I‘ve always been enthralled by history. I like to know, and cherish, the impact others have made.

Give me a free day and a museum, a battlefield, the preserved home of one of my heroes—and I’m about as happy as a man can be. Give me a great book about our faith, or Washington, or Eisenhower, and airport crowds and the confined space of the airplane cabin fade for awhile.

But, of course, those kinds of days and diversions don’t come for me any more often than they come for you. In between are lots of days when I stand at the podium or sit at a microphone, talking to rooms full of people who are looking at, and listening to, me. It comes with my calling, and it’s an opportunity for me to do what this ministry is all about—enabling millions of Christians across this country to freely share their deepest beliefs in the public square.

Still, standing and speaking for Christ, and religious freedom, is different from talking about ... me. Which is why, when the people on our communications team—the media, marketing and creative specialists—come to me about filming a “CEO video,” I start to squirm.

Yes, it’s good to have something to show at banquets and events that will help people understand “Who is this guy?” charged with leading Alliance Defending Freedom, and “What makes him tick?” But there’s a reason this ministry has never been built around any one persona, and why we’ve never worked to make anyone on our

team a household name. ADF is about serving Jesus Christ and His people ... not building one person’s legacy or reputation.

It helps to know I’m not the only one who enjoys biogra-phies. Most of us find encouragement in seeing how oth-ers have faced their personal challenges and built on the unique opportunities God has given them. By His grace, He has blessed me with more than my share, and my ex-periences give me a distinct perspective on this ministry, and on what we are facing in the days ahead.

So, it’s time, they recently told me, for a new video. To make the medicine go down, our creative team came up with a spoonful of sugar. On my next working trip back east, they would steal a day to film me at some of my favorite places (the Supreme Court, Abe Lincoln’s sum-mer home) and visiting with the courageous pastors and laity of the Bronx Household of Faith.

I hope the results will remind you of the extraordinary heritage of religious freedom we have in this country, and of all that our Lord is enabling ADF to do to pre-serve that heritage.

John 15:5–Apart from Christ, we can do nothing.

Take a few moments and view this new video about Alan’s history and vision for the ministry. Visit AllianceDefendingFreedom.org and click on “Faith & Justice.”

Being Candid About Camerasby Alan Sears, President, CEO and General Counsel

Volume VII, Issue 2 CONTENTS

4 LIVING FAITH IN A CHANGING AMERICA“We speak in a way that understands that

those who disagree with us are not our enemies.”

6 STANDING FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH ON AMERICA’S CAMPUSES“We’re getting people to talk—and that’s our goal.”

14 THEY BOW TO NO ONE IN DEFENDING PRAYER“They let us, as students, go first. People actually

wanted to hear what we had to say.”

16 ALLIANCE PROFILE: NOEL STERETT“We understand law as a calling, and our Christian faith

pretty much informs all that we do.”

What changes or developments in American culture are of greatest concern to you?

I do not have a gloomy, pessimistic view of Ameri-

can culture. We see the secularizing of American culture

in some ways, but I think what’s falling away is not au-

thentic, genuine Christianity, but nominal, cultural Chris-

tianity. And it’s being replaced with a vibrant, counter

cultural Christianity. The resurgence of apostolic Chris-

tianity, [particularly] among young people across this

country, is extremely cheering to me.

American culture is changing, in some ways for the

worse, but Christianity didn’t emerge in Mayberry. It

emerged in a very difficult place, where Christianity was

seen to be freakish. And so, as the culture increasingly

sees the Gospel as freakish, or even dangerous, in many

ways that’s because they’re simply hearing what we have

to say in a clear way.

I often say that my perspective on the culture is

summed up in the lyrics of the Grateful Dead song

“Touch of Grey”: It’s even worse than it appears, but it’s

alright. Meaning that we’re always going to have a dif-

ficult cultural ecosystem around us, because we live in a

fallen world. But the Kingdom of God marches forward,

and Jesus is ultimately triumphant.

4 | Alliance Defending Freedom

O n T h e S q u a r e

with

D r . R u s s e l l M o o r e

Russell D. Moore enjoys a unique vantage point for

viewing the cultural conflicts of America today. Elect-

ed president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious

Liberty Commission in 2013, he is the point man for

the denomination’s public response to the nation’s

moral concerns. He is also its foremost spokesman on

public policies related to those issues, interacting with

political leaders at the highest levels of government.

A former provost and dean of The Southern Baptist

Theological Seminary, Dr. Moore also taught theol-

ogy and ethics at the school, and has authored several

books, including Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adop-

tion for Christian Families & Churches and Tempted

and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ. He

and his wife, Maria, are the parents of five sons.

Q &A

You’ve been especially outspoken about the Conestoga Wood Specialties and the Hobby Lobby cases recently argued before the U.S. Supreme Court (both of which have ties to Alliance Defending Freedom). What makes these cases so important?

The Hobby Lobby and Conestoga cases are critical for

Christians [and] non-Christians … including those who have

no faith at all. Christians

have fought long and hard

in this country for religious

liberty. This is a long-cher-

ished right, paid for with the

blood of our forefathers and

foremothers, and we need

to guard it, and we need to

honor it.

We also need to recog-

nize that religious liberty

isn’t a grant from the state.

It’s a natural right, given by

God, that the state must rec-

ognize. So we need to stand

vigilant there.

What I would say to people of no religious faith is that re-

ligious liberty is [also] in their best interest … because a gov-

ernment that is powerful enough to pave over the consciences

of religious believers is a government that will be able to pave

over their consciences, as well.

I don’t think any of us want the sort of world that would

say people “trade in” their consciences and convictions when

they go into the marketplace. If we say that to Hobby Lobby

and Conestoga Wood, then how are we going to be able to

have any moral accountability for people acting in corpora-

tions? How will we be able to call on corporations to have a

moral conscience when it comes to polluting the air and the

water? So, it’s in everyone’s interest.

Living Faith In A Changing America

Go to AllianceDefendingFreedom.org and click on “Faith & Justice” to learn about our most recent efforts to preserve your religious freedom, and visit www.russellmoore.com to glean additional insights from Dr. Moore.

Photo: The Christian Post/N.Nazworth

You’ve been especially outspoken about the Conestoga Wood Specialties and the Hobby Lobby cases recently argued before the U.S. Supreme Court (both of which have ties to Alliance Defending Freedom). What makes these cases so important?

The Hobby Lobby and Conestoga cases are critical for

Christians [and] non-Christians … including those who have

no faith at all. Christians

have fought long and hard

in this country for religious

liberty. This is a long-cher-

ished right, paid for with the

blood of our forefathers and

foremothers, and we need

to guard it, and we need to

honor it.

We also need to recog-

nize that religious liberty

isn’t a grant from the state.

It’s a natural right, given by

God, that the state must rec-

ognize. So we need to stand

vigilant there.

What I would say to people of no religious faith is that re-

ligious liberty is [also] in their best interest … because a gov-

ernment that is powerful enough to pave over the consciences

of religious believers is a government that will be able to pave

over their consciences, as well.

I don’t think any of us want the sort of world that would

say people “trade in” their consciences and convictions when

they go into the marketplace. If we say that to Hobby Lobby

and Conestoga Wood, then how are we going to be able to

have any moral accountability for people acting in corpora-

tions? How will we be able to call on corporations to have a

moral conscience when it comes to polluting the air and the

water? So, it’s in everyone’s interest.

Why do Christians need to be actively engaged with today’s political and cultural issues?

There are always going to be those who are tempted to

evacuate the public sphere altogether—but I believe that’s im-

possible. There have been Christians on the Right and the Left

who have replaced the Gospel with a political agenda—that has

happened. But churches that simply don’t address social ques-

tions at all don’t avoid that problem. They typically become the

most politicized churches of

all. A church in 1845 Georgia

that doesn’t address the ques-

tion of slavery is addressing

slavery … by baptizing the

status quo. And a church in

2014 that doesn’t address

abortion is standing for the

status quo of a culture that

devalues the human life of

the unborn.

So we must speak on

issues facing the culture—

but we speak in a way that

understands that those who

disagree with us are not our

enemies. The Bible says we don’t wrestle against flesh and

blood, but against principalities and powers “in heavenly plac-

es”—which means that we speak with conviction, but also with

kindness toward those who disagree with us.

How do you see Alliance Defending Freedom contributing to these spiritual struggles?

Alliance Defending Freedom is remarkably impressive

to me, as a group of people with amazing legal skill and a

well-formed heart for the right things … working not only

in the legal arena, but also in cultivating churches and

church leaders, to understand why religious freedom is

important. There’s always a temptation for people to take

religious liberty for granted, and ADF has been very effective

in pointing out why we can’t do that, and in equipping

churches to be able to prepare the next generation to fight

for religious liberty.


Living Faith In A Changing America

Religious liberty isn’t a grant from the state. It’s a natural right, given by God, that the state must recognize.

Go to AllianceDefendingFreedom.org and click on “Faith & Justice” to learn about our most recent efforts to preserve your religious freedom, and visit www.russellmoore.com to glean additional insights from Dr. Moore.

Photo: The Christian Post/N.Nazworth

Dr. Russell Moore is a leading spokesman for Southern Baptists on political and cultural issues impacting people of faith.

These days, students wondering how seriously their college or

university officials take the First Amendment are finding it easy to

determine the answer. They could ask permission or funding for any

number of events or activities, but perhaps the most surefire test is

something called the Genocide Awareness Project, or GAP.

GAP uses some graphic images to remind viewers of something

most would rather forget: that abortion is the natural extension of

a line of government-sanctioned brutality that runs back through

human history, including (but not limited to) slavery and the Ho-

locaust. Student pro-life groups, setting up the display along busy

walkways and campus quads, are attracting a lot of attention for

their cause—and a lot of censorship from campus administrators.

“We’re getting people to talk—and that’s our goal,” says Angela

Little, who was a senior at Eastern Michigan University when her

chapter of Students for Life of America (SFLA) brought GAP to their

campus. “By the time I’m 30, one in three women will have had an

abortion. So, basically, everyone knows someone who’s had one.”

Like other pro-life students on campuses coast to coast, presenting a


S p e c i a l F e a t u r e

I have no problem with protest … but I do have a problem with them infringing upon my freedom of speech.

– Christian Andzel

Standing For Freedom Of Speech On America’s Campuses

Christian Andzel defends life—and speech—at the University of Buffalo.


Why is my voice being squelched? – Spencer Anderson

wide range of projects, events, debates,

guest lectures, and protests, Angela

says her group had just one goal: “to

get people to say, ‘Is abortion okay?’”

“Groups like SFLA are providing the

ideas and resources for pro-life stu-

dents to engage in effective pro-life

advocacy on campus,” says David

Hacker, Senior Legal Counsel with Alli-

ance Defending Freedom. ADF assists

groups like SFLA, he says, when they

run into unconstitutional restrictions

on speech. Events like GAP show just

how widespread those restrictions re-

ally are.

Spencer Anderson was a student at

Columbus State Community College

when he saw an anti-abortion film, 180,

that opened his eyes to how common

abortion is among college students

(more than half of all U.S. abortions

involve women under 25). Spencer

wondered if he could help change that.

Through Facebook, he befriended other

pro-lifers—and learned of GAP.

He spent months trying to secure per-

mission for the project from school

officials. It finally came—with strict

limits on how much of GAP could

be shown, and where. Officials also

brought in the police, and both hov-

ered so much that Spencer wondered,

“Why is my voice being squelched?”

Angela’s SFLA group couldn’t even get

past their own student government

leaders, who denied funding for the

GAP event, saying it was too “biased”

and “controversial”—even though

they‘d approved funding for plenty of

controversial displays and events bi-

ased toward leftist views.

“I got mad,” Angela

says. “I’ve paid hun-

dreds of dollars in

student fees every

year, and never seen

any of it go to a group

I actually agree with.

Just because they’re a

big university doesn’t

mean they’re always

right. Sometimes,

they need to be con-

fronted.”

At the University at

Buffalo in New York,

Christian Andzel and

his SFLA group con-

fronted some 250 pro-abortion stu-

dents who stormed their GAP presenta-

tion, overwhelming the pro-lifers and

hanging umbrellas, shower curtains,

and bedsheets over the pictures. Local

police, brought in to keep order, sim-

ply stood by and watched.

“I have no problem with protest,” says

Christian, who says his passion on

this issue stems from being put up for

adoption as an infant in Columbia, by a

mother who might easily have aborted

him. “Bring it on, and we’ll debate—but

I do have a problem with them infring-

ing upon my [and my club’s] freedom

of speech.”

Christian, Angela, Spencer, and their

pro-life groups soon joined the doz-

ens of students and organizations

who each year enlist ADF attorneys to

defend their rights, as protected by

the First Amendment. Hacker says the

three students’ experiences “represent

common threats to religious liberty and

free speech on campus,” a censorship

he says is “rooted in a campus culture

that is hostile to Christian and conser-

vative students.”

ADF attorneys have successfully in-

terceded for thousands of students at

schools nationwide—including Chris-

tian, Angela, and Spencer—restor-

ing their right to speak thoughtfully

about issues like abortion and share

their faith in ways that may nudge

their fellow students out of their com-

fort zone.

“Because of groups like SFLA, students

today are more pro-life than the previ-

ous generation,” Hacker says. “We’re

seeing many more young people re-

spond positively to the pro-life issue

and want to go out and tell others.”

By holding to their beliefs amid back-

lash and controversy, he says, Angela,

Spencer, and Christian are showing

students facing similar censorship that

they, too, can stand for their right to

speak freely—even against universities

that demand their silence.

Visit AllianceDefendingFreedom.org and click on “Faith & Justice” to learn

more about these students and what this ministry is doing to preserve First

Amendment protections on campus.

Christian Andzel defends life—and speech—at the University of Buffalo.

The Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) display is prompting discussions—and censorship.

8 | Alliance Defending Freedom8 | Alliance Defending Freedom

— b y C h r i s P o t t s —

You would think a family that’s spent a half-century making drawers and cabinets would know a little some-thing about compartmentalizing. That is, after all, why people buy and install drawers and cabinets—so that they can tuck away things they’re not using … store them out of mind and out of sight.

The Hahns understand that. They make their living carefully crafting oak and cherry, maple and pine cre-ations so simple and beautiful that whatever may be stored within becomes almost an afterthought.

They’re good enough at it that their business has grown, in 50 years, from a two-man operation to more than a thousand employees. Among their customers, they have a reputation for excellence. Within their com-munity, they’re respected for their generosity. Their

employees speak of the family’s kindness

and compassion.

The Hahns themselves speak little of any

of these things; privacy is as fundamen-

tal to their character as faith is to their

beliefs. But they are not ashamed of their

convictions, or of how those convictions

shape their daily life and work and envi-

ronment. Their beliefs are personal, but

they are not hidden away.

In houses and offices, drawers and

cabinets have their place. People like the

Hahns, though, have no compartments

in their hearts. They believe that if a man

truly holds to his convictions, he must

honor them as faithfully on the floor of

his factory as he does at his own break-

fast table.

But now the Hahns have come face-to-

face with the hard reality that people who

don’t share their religious beliefs—and

even some who do—look on faith like the

things in their cabinets … as something

to be tucked away, out of mind, and out

of sight.

It’s a view the federal government is now

compelling the Hahns to share. But for

people who have built their business as

much on deep-seated belief as on finely

crafted wood … the government’s de-

mands go hard against the grain.

I t is perhaps both easier, and

harder, for the Hahns to under-

stand what is happening in

American legal culture today than it is for

people of other faith backgrounds and

persuasions, in other parts of the country.

As Mennonites, they represent a

500-year-old history of struggling for

the right to live out their beliefs. “Strug-

gling”—not “fighting.” The Mennonites

have always cherished peace, shunned

war, and responded to the various po-

litical and cultural pressures inflicted

upon them by moving on, in search of

places more sheltered from the social

storms. That search has dispersed them,

through the centuries, across Europe

and into Africa, India, and South and

Central America. Nearly 300 years ago,

it brought a sizable number of them

and their denominational cousins, the

Quakers and Amish, to North America.

There, many—including the Hahns’

own ancestors—put down roots in the

newly-founded colony of Pennsylvania.

What they found there, to a degree none

of their kind had experienced anywhere

else, was pure religious freedom …

genuine tolerance for their beliefs and

respect for their determination to live

out that very personal faith in every

aspect of their lives and communities.

Now, suddenly, after three centuries of

peaceful coexistence with their fellow cit-

izens in this vast, ever-changing country,

they find themselves engulfed again by

religious, political, and cultural pressures

that may, once more, deny them the free

expression of their personal faith.

T he business that opened the

Hahns’ lives to these intrusions,

Conestoga Wood Specialties,

first took shape in the family garage in

1964. Samuel gave himself to the hands-

on work of creating doors, cabinets, and

other furnishings, while his brother Nor-

man focused on the books.

“I basically grew up with the company,”

says Anthony, one of four sons born

to Norman, each of whom took a turn

working for the fledgling company. An-

thony and his brothers Kevin and Lemar

were the three who stayed with it—Kevin

as a member of the board, Lemar as

project engineer and chairman of the

board, Anthony as president and CEO.

“It’s all I really knew,” Anthony remem-

bers. “We lived across the street, so it

was part of our life.” Both of his parents

worked for the company, whose offices

were upstairs in the family home. An-

thony’s first job was mowing the fac-

tory lawn. Like his brothers, he in time

learned the intricacies of saws, shapers,

sanders, and other equipment. Eventu-

ally, he assumed management and office

duties. Improved technology outpaced

some of his early skills, but “I can still

make a door,” he says, smiling.

Lemar, who works in the engineering

department, still makes a little of every-

thing, but especially enjoys tinkering

with adhesion—finding effective ways

of melding wood pieces together. He

finds something particularly reward-

ing, he says, in “just knowing that wood

stays together by a substance, and our

customers depend on that for safety


“They want to live their lives according to their faith.

Now, for the first time in 300 years, the government is telling them they can’t.”

– R A N DY W E N G E R –

Anthony Hahn touches base with Conestoga employees Kathy Mellinger (l) and Luther Sensenig (r).

and a good appearance.” The substance

that has held the Hahns together, he

says, is their biblical beliefs. Lemar

appreciates how faithfully his parents

taught him to believe in Christ “early on

in life,” and sent him to a school that

reinforced Christian principles. “My

faith is very important to me,” he says.

“It’s important for me to live every part

of it wherever I go, whatever I do. Even

here at work.”

“Our faith—that’s what we’re founded

on,” Anthony says. “That’s what we were

building our company on—those values,

those principles that we grew up with.

It was our faith, our religion, to do busi-

ness in a fair and ethical manner, and

to treat our employees that way. ‘Treat

other people the way you want them to

treat you.’ That is in the Bible, and it’s

played an important part in how we

do business. And God has blessed this

company.”

Indeed. Conestoga is now one of the

largest manufacturers in the county,

with a reputation not only for employ-

ing outstanding craftsmen, but for pay-

ing them well and treating them fairly.

“They’ve been trying to live their lives

so thoroughly consistent with their reli-

gious faith,” says Randy Wenger, Chief

Counsel with the nearby Independence

Law Center, who knows the family as

neighbors as well as clients. “The way

they live out their faith in trying to serve

others … to really be Christian light and

truth, pervades everything, in terms of

the way they run their business.”

Wenger recalls encountering a group

of Russian refugees working in the

Lancaster plant—only one of whom, it

turned out, understood any English. The

Hahns had hired all of them, knowing

the group would be able to make a better

wage working together, at the factory,

where only one would have to speak the

language.

“I love the Hahns,” Wenger says. “Just

the fact that they’re real people, in every-

thing they do. They do good work, and

they’ve got a lot of customers because

they do good work. God has blessed

them in their business, and they’re look-

ing in every way that they can to build

back into the Kingdom of God.”

That same determination, though, now

has the Hahns at odds with their own

government … and every effort they’ve

made to explain their actions and be-

liefs has been lost, so far, in translation.

T he Department of Health and

Human Services’ 2012 abortion

pill mandate stunned Christian

business owners across America, includ-

ing the Hahns. The law dictates that all

employers must underwrite, as part of

their employees’ insurance benefits, life-

ending abortion drugs. Those who decline

to pay for their employees’ abortion pills

risk fines of $100 dollars a day … per

employee. Few businesses of any size can

sustain a financial penalty of $36,500 a

year, per employee.

By refusing to grant them religious ex-

emptions for the mandate, then, the

government is, in fact, ordering business

owners—whatever their personal views

on the sanctity of human life—to actively

support abortion, or risk crippling fines.

“I’m really disappointed,” Lemar says.

“We’re Christians. We don’t believe in

taking life. And now … here we are.”

“This is a moral concern for us,” Anthony

says. “We actually have a sanctity of life

statement that we put together that says

we believe that life begins at the instant

conception takes place. Nobody has a

right to take that life except God. So we

really don’t want to be in a business of

providing drugs to our employees that

could potentially cause abortion.”

But standing for that conviction puts the

Hahns on the horns of another dilemma:

confronting their own government.

“Mennonites don’t go to court,” says

Wenger, whose Independence Law Center

was recruited by the family to defend

them. “Here, they needed to go to court

to be able to protect their rights.” Con-

vincing the Hahns of that, he says, meant

reaching “I wouldn’t say a comfort level,

but an understanding, of what needed to

be done. They want to be able to run their

business, serve their clients and their

employees in a way that honors God. So,

‘Okay, we need to go to court.’”

“It was soul-wrenching,” Anthony says.

“We’re nonresistant, peace-loving people.

We’re not in the legal world, doing a lot of


“They want to live their lives according to their faith.

Now, for the first time in 300 years, the government is telling them they can’t.”

– R A N DY W E N G E R –


lawsuits and things. So that was really trou-

bling … to stand up and make that stand.

But we felt we needed to. We just did not

want to go against what we believe.”

“Norman Hahn was almost in tears, as

he was speaking to us about the moral

dilemma that this was creating for them,”

says Wenger. “They want to live their lives

according to their faith. Now, for the first

time in 300 years, the government is tell-

ing them they can’t. Instead, they’re the

enemy of the state, and the enemy of the

government’s new policy.

“That just seems wrong, for the govern-

ment to create enemies … when these

are people who only want to serve. These

are genuinely good people. And they

only want to do good. [Yet they’re] being

treated like they’re doing something bad

to society.”

In fact, Wenger says, the government

that would punish the Hahns for not tak-

ing sufficient care of their employees is

actually making it harder for them to do

so. Prior to the Affordable Care Act, “the

Hahns were providing outstanding insur-

ance—all kinds of things that weren’t

required by any law whatsoever; they were

just concerned about their employees and

their employees’ well-being. They didn’t

need to be told by the government to do

the right thing.”

Since the government got involved,

though, Wenger says, “it’s much more dif-

ficult and much more expensive to be able

to care for their employees in the way they

want to. Instead, they’re being mandated

now to do something that isn’t even pre-

venting disease—it’s preventing, in all too

many cases, a live human being—a new

life—from growing and being born.”

The family business would face $100,000 a

day in fines if the Hahns refused to follow

the mandate. Yet the thought of supple-

menting abortion was unbearable. In De-

cember 2012, they filed suit

against their government in

federal court.

T hey lost. They

appealed, and lost

again. They ap-

pealed to the U.S. Court of

Appeals for the 3rd Circuit—

and lost again. Wenger, an

Alliance Defending Freedom

Allied Attorney who had

worked closely with the

ministry in the earlier trials,

realized the Hahns would

need attorneys with solid

Supreme Court experience if

they were to file the only

appeal left to them. Learning

that ADF attorneys, representing other

businesses, schools, and ministries, had

won 18 of 19 court decisions blocking

implementation of the HHS mandate, the

family enlisted ADF to join their legal

team.

“The legal experience of Alliance Defend-

ing Freedom is amazing, and empower-

ing,” Wenger says. “From the get-go, we

were on the phone with ADF attorneys …

and because of the alliance, we were able

to move the case effectively. Then, in ap-

proaching the Supreme Court level, to be

able to bring ADF in as counsel, has been

instrumental, just in terms of their vast

experience at this specialized level.”

“We have a great legal team,” Anthony

says. “I’m glad they’re supporting us,

speaking for us—I’ve never had to speak in

the courtroom. But I can say, sitting there,

listening … I literally can feel my hands

getting sweaty, because it’s just such an

important issue for us, as a family.”

“One of the judges said the choice for the Hahns in this case is either to bury their religious beliefs or bury their business,” says ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman, “and certainly no one should have to make that choice. If the government can force the Hahns to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs just to engage in a liveli-hood … that sets a dangerous precedent. If the government can do that to them, it can certainly do much worse to others.

“This isn’t a narrow issue about the HHS mandate,” he says. “The principles that are involved here are much broader than that, because they extend to all of our daily lives.”

“Most people spend their lives trying to earn a living for their family,” says ADF Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman, “and if the federal government can declare that religious freedom doesn’t exist when you do business, or in healthcare, or in other areas of life, then the federal government is assuming a power to itself to take away our freedoms and to control what we’re doing. That’s incompatible with the First Amendment, and with the freedoms this country was founded to protect.

“The question in this case is whether all Americans will have religious freedom, and be able to live and do business ac-cording to their faith, or whether the federal government can pick and choose what faith is … who are the faithful … and where and when they can exercise that faith.”

T he Hahns’ case—in conjunction

with that of another family-

owned business, Hobby Lobby,

owned by the Green family of Oklahoma—

was argued at the U.S. Supreme Court on

March 25. A decision in the case was ex-

pected in June. Essentially, Wenger says,

the court will rule on whether family

businesses “are protected by the religious

liberty rights in our Constitution, and

whether the owners of these corporations

“One of the judges said the choice for the Hahns in this case

is either to bury their religious beliefs or bury their business.”

– D AV I D C O R T M A N –


lose their constitutionally protected reli-

gious liberties when they open the doors

for business.”

After all, if you’re running a family busi-

ness, “it’s not as if it’s some abstract

entity out there that operates on its

own,” Wenger says. “It’s operated by real

people who stay awake at night worrying

about how they’re going to pay the bills.

We can make things in the Constitution

ridiculously abstract, but at the end of

the day, the court has to grapple with

the fact that these are real people who

have real convictions at stake.”

If the court somehow decides that neither

family companies nor their owners have

any rights, Wenger says, “our religious

liberty rights are going to mean less and

less in the modern age, particularly as

government seems to be getting more

hostile toward religious beliefs. Moral-

ity is changing, and the kind of morality

that’s being pushed by the government is

changing. We’re going to have a lot more

situations where religious freedom could

be—and is being—burdened. So it’s criti-

cal that the court get this right.”

O ne unfortunate side effect of

suing the federal government—

and having your case go all the

way to the U.S. Supreme Court—is that

you attract a lot of attention to yourself.

That can be good for your case, and good

for your ego, if you happen to like the

spotlight. The Hahns don’t.

“As attorneys, we feel like it’s important

for people to know what’s going on in

these cases, because there’s a level of

sympathy that people have when they un-

derstand the difficulty that this mandate

causes in people’s lives,” Wenger says.

“But we’re really limited in terms of media

because [the Hahns] are not looking at get-

ting attention for themselves—they just

want to run a business, according to their

faith. They would rather not be meeting

with media at all.”

Unfortunately, the higher the case has

moved up the litigation ladder, the more

media attention it’s received. For the

Hahns, Wenger says, that attention has

spurred not excitement, but “resignation,

because they felt it was their duty … a way

to maintain their religious liberties, and

help others. But I can tell you, they’d have

been glad for someone else to take the

lead on this.”

“The Hahns are a great example,” Cortman

says. “It’s an incredible testimony, when a

family is brave enough to take on the dif-

ficulties of litigating a case, going against

the administration, going to court all this

time, fighting for their beliefs at great cost

to themselves.”

Looking back at all that, Anthony says,

“There’s more at stake here than I real-

ized. Allowing people to work hard, make

a living, and grow their businesses—with-

out having government intervening and

causing issues and concerns. First Amend-

ment rights. Religious liberty. Freedom. It

just feels like they’re all being taken away.

It’s very difficult, but … here we are.”

“These people are the real deal,” Wenger

says. “They’re not, as some might sug-

gest, Christians who are just trying to

get out from under the rules that every-

one else has to follow. They love God,

and the people around them … and just

want to be able to continue to do that in

freedom.”

“I literally can feel my hands getting sweaty,

because it’s just such an important issue

for us, as a family.”– A N T H O N Y H A H N –

For the latest information on this case and an inspiring video of the Hahns’ story, visit AllianceDefendingFreedom.org and clicking on “Faith & Justice.” You’ll also learn more of our continuing efforts nationwide to defend the right of all Christians to live out their faith in their daily lives.


It was Lauryn’s idea. (She and Rachel are in junior high; Olivia and Taylor

are in high school.) She had attended an earlier meeting of the board, and

learned that the prayer issue would be discussed at the next session. She

knew that each of us was at least a little interested in politics, and that all

of us cared about the freedom to pray.

So she contacted the rest of us, and suggested that we all go to the meet-

ing together, and that maybe each of us could prepare a little speech to

give when they opened the floor for statements from the public. We got

together, talked about it, and agreed the issue was important enough to

make a stand. Maybe, we thought, it would be good for the adults to know

that prayer was something young people cared about, too.

We went home, talked it over with our parents, and went to work on our

speeches. The night of the meeting, most of us gathered at Lauryn’s house,

prayed together, and piled into her mom’s car for the ride to the meeting.

Olivia had learned that the school board in a neighboring town had just

dealt with the same question. (Under pressure to stop opening their meetings

with prayer, a board member had sought out advice from Alliance Defending

Freedom, whose attorneys helped the board members work out a policy that

conformed with the Constitution—and allowed them to keep praying at their

meetings.) The fact that another school’s board had decided to continue

THEY BOW TO NO ONE IN DEFENDING PRAYERby Taylor Dalton, Rachel Fisk,

Olivia Jensen, and Lauryn Porter

M y V i e w

“Some of our friends in the audience said people had tears in their eyes … but not everyone was enthusiastic.”

On January 28, the Governing Board of Gilbert

(Arizona) Public Schools paused in the midst of its

lengthy evening’s agenda to invite public input on

whether or not to begin opening its monthly busi-

ness meetings with prayer. The crowd stirred to life

when the first four citizens invited to the microphone

turned out to be teenagers. The four were friends

of different ages, schools, and backgrounds, united

only by their involvement in the same local church,

their participation in the same weekly book club, and

their shared conviction that the right of people to

pray should be protected. One by one, they cleared

their throats and stepped up to the mike.

It was Lauryn’s idea. (She and Rachel are in junior high; Olivia and Taylor

are in high school.) She had attended an earlier meeting of the board, and

learned that the prayer issue would be discussed at the next session. She

knew that each of us was at least a little interested in politics, and that all

of us cared about the freedom to pray.

So she contacted the rest of us, and suggested that we all go to the meet-

ing together, and that maybe each of us could prepare a little speech to

give when they opened the floor for statements from the public. We got

together, talked about it, and agreed the issue was important enough to

make a stand. Maybe, we thought, it would be good for the adults to know

that prayer was something young people cared about, too.

We went home, talked it over with our parents, and went to work on our

speeches. The night of the meeting, most of us gathered at Lauryn’s house,

prayed together, and piled into her mom’s car for the ride to the meeting.

Olivia had learned that the school board in a neighboring town had just

dealt with the same question. (Under pressure to stop opening their meetings

with prayer, a board member had sought out advice from Alliance Defending

Freedom, whose attorneys helped the board members work out a policy that

conformed with the Constitution—and allowed them to keep praying at their

meetings.) The fact that another school’s board had decided to continue

THEY BOW TO NO ONE IN DEFENDING PRAYER

praying gave us hope that our board

might reach a similar decision.

The big room was still pretty full when

it came time for us to speak. Taylor, who

probably has the most experience talking

in front of groups, went first. He some-

how managed to quote

both Winston Churchill

and Bruce Lee in his re-

marks, while making his

point that:

“If we are truly loyal to our

country, and honestly pledge

allegiance to it, then we

must recognize the stanza

[of the Pledge] that states

that we are a nation ‘under

God.’… Even if you do not

believe, as the Founding Fa-

thers did, that there is such

a higher being, a prayer

can be used as a moment to

meditate and contemplate

the ideas and propositions

about to be discussed. … I know that keep-

ing prayer in these meetings will impact

them for the better, thus helping to give us,

the rising generation, the chance to achieve

higher educational goals.”

“I just wanted to make sure that people

understood me—not just what I was say-

ing, but what I meant,” Taylor says. “So I

prayed for wisdom, that God would help

me get my point across in a way people

would understand.” Lauryn was hoping the

same thing as she came up after him.

“I am here because I have a strong desire

for prayer to be brought back to your school

board meetings,” she told the crowd. “You

guys have stewardship over many people

and are making very big decisions every day.

You should want God’s help for those impor-

tant decisions … and to me every decision

is an important decision when it affects the

youth of our country.” Rachel was up next.

“Praying isn’t something everybody believes

in,” she said, “but they can still listen and

feel the peace others feel. Our Senate says

morning prayer before conducting their

business. When any body of elected officials

is making decisions for other people, they

should pray for knowledge and guidance

and more wisdom than they have.”

Olivia came up last, and struck a patriotic

note. “George Washington said, ‘It is im-

possible to rightly govern without God.’

He believed that prayer in action allowed

his ‘thoughts,

words, and work’

to be directed for

good, which, in

settings such as

these, is crucial to

success. Bringing prayer into these meet-

ings will demonstrate an appreciation and

acceptance for all religious backgrounds.

This preservation of religious cultures and

ideas, no matter what they may be, pro-

vides an atmosphere conducive to these

school board meetings’ effectiveness.” Pray-

ing is especially important, she told them,

in “making decisions where the welfare of

children is involved.”

Some of our friends in the audience said

people had tears in their eyes while we

were speaking. Even one of the board mem-

bers wiped at his eyes. When the meeting

closed, we congratulated each other. After

all of our own preparation, it had been fun

to hear what we each had to say. Then sud-

denly, we were surrounded. People from

all over the room kept

coming up to tell us how

much they appreciated

what we had said.

“I wish I’d had your elo-

quence when I was your

age,” one said. “Thanks

for being brave enough to

speak up about this,” said

another. But not everyone

was enthusiastic. One

woman accused Lauryn’s

mother of forcing us to

attend the meeting. “You

told them what to say!”

she said.

We were all kind of

shocked that someone would think we had

to be there. Lauryn’s mom tried to explain

that we all chose to come—that this was

actually important to us. We’re friends,

and this is what we believe. Some of us

get teased a lot and verbally attacked for

our faith. It was great to have a chance

to stand up in public and speak out for

prayer and what we believe.

Two great things came out of that night.

First, the board voted to begin opening

its meetings with prayer. And second, we

realized something: they let us, as stu-

dents, go first. People actually wanted to

hear what we had to say—just because

we’re young.

If we are virtually guaranteed a chance

to speak, we decided—shouldn’t we do it

more often? Shouldn’t all young people of

faith take advantage of this opportunity,

every chance we get? We think so—and

we’re all looking forward to the next

chance we get to stand up, speak up, and

make a difference.


(L.- r.) Olivia Jensen, Taylor Dalton, Lauryn Porter, and Rachel Fisk talk with ADF Senior Counsel Brett Harvey.

Visit AllianceDefendingFreedom.org and click on “Faith & Justice” to learn more about this ministry’s efforts nationwide to preserve religious freedom in the public square.

For Noel Sterett, a partner with the Chicago law firm of Mauck & Baker, being a Christian attorney translates into … well, translating.

“I saw law school as an opportunity to learn a new lan-guage,” he says, “and to use my language skills to serve others. Every day, I’m able to use language to persuade a judge, serve a client, write a contract. Each type of case is a new vocabulary … a new way of talking.”

The language of intercession comes easily for Sterett, who—in addition to English, French, and sundry legal dialects—speaks the lingua franca of his firm: prayer.

“At Mauck & Baker, prayer is a big part of everything—we pray for each other, for our clients, for the judges, for opposing counsel. We understand law as a calling, and our Christian faith pretty much informs all that we do,” he says. Like all of the other members of his firm, Sterett is an Alliance Defending Freedom Allied Attor-ney, and is “really involved in the kinds of cases ADF pursues”—as evidenced, most recently, by his work on behalf of The Life Center (TLC) of Elgin, Illinois.

TLC provides young women with easy access to free pregnancy screening and ultrasounds. The ministry’s mobile pregnancy center regularly parks near local high schools, where teens too frightened to visit a hospital, doctor’s office, or even TLC’s main facility can come aboard quickly, quietly, and anonymously for diagnosis and counseling.

In 2013, the Elgin City Council suddenly decided to amend the community’s land ordinances, sharply cur-tailing the issuance of temporary land use permits. TLC staffers found themselves charged nearly $200 every time they parked their mobile clinic—and greatly limited in how often they could park in one place. The costs made it prohibitive for the clinics to operate, and difficult for potential clients to know where the clinics would be.

Sterett’s firm filed suit on TLC’s behalf, a judge ruled in the center’s favor, and on February 26, the city coun-cil passed an amendment allowing the mobile clinic to operate as before. Sterett counted his work on the case among the more than 5,000 pro bono hours he’s logged as an Allied Attorney (two-and-a-half-years of work, valued at nearly $1 million)—and an opportunity “to live out my faith in a broken world where injustice is preva-lent, and there are hurting people.”


A l l i a n c e P r o f i l e

Noel Sterett Mauck & Baker, LLC

On April 7, the U.S. Supreme

Court declined to hear argu-

ments in Elane Photography v.

Willock, the case of a Christian

photographer, Elaine Huguenin,

who was penalized by the New

Mexico Human Rights Commis-

sion for declining to use her

creative talents to help “cele-

brate” a same-sex “commitment

ceremony.” (See Opinion, p. 18).

The New Mexico Supreme Court

ruling last summer, affirming

the Human Rights Commission’s

decision, remains for now, the

last word on the case. The omi-

nous implications of the state

high court’s ruling were under-

scored by a concurring state-

ment, issued by one of the jus-

On April 3, the U.S. Court of

Appeals for the 2nd Circuit

ruled 2-1 that churches can-

not continue to hold weekend

worship services in New York

City’s public schools. The case

centers on the litigation that

first started in 1995 when Bronx

Vol. II, Iss. 2 HOUSE OF HOPE

POINT AND SHOOT Vol. II, Iss. 1

U p d a t e s

Visit AllianceDefendingFreedom.org and click on “Faith & Justice” to see how ADF is protecting land use for organizations like The Life Center. To learn more about the work of Mauck & Baker, visit www.mauckbaker.com

For Noel Sterett, a partner with the Chicago law firm of Mauck & Baker, being a Christian attorney translates into … well, translating.

“I saw law school as an opportunity to learn a new lan-guage,” he says, “and to use my language skills to serve others. Every day, I’m able to use language to persuade a judge, serve a client, write a contract. Each type of case is a new vocabulary … a new way of talking.”

The language of intercession comes easily for Sterett, who—in addition to English, French, and sundry legal dialects—speaks the lingua franca of his firm: prayer.

“At Mauck & Baker, prayer is a big part of everything—we pray for each other, for our clients, for the judges, for opposing counsel. We understand law as a calling, and our Christian faith pretty much informs all that we do,” he says. Like all of the other members of his firm, Sterett is an Alliance Defending Freedom Allied Attor-ney, and is “really involved in the kinds of cases ADF pursues”—as evidenced, most recently, by his work on behalf of The Life Center (TLC) of Elgin, Illinois.

TLC provides young women with easy access to free pregnancy screening and ultrasounds. The ministry’s mobile pregnancy center regularly parks near local high schools, where teens too frightened to visit a hospital, doctor’s office, or even TLC’s main facility can come aboard quickly, quietly, and anonymously for diagnosis and counseling.

In 2013, the Elgin City Council suddenly decided to amend the community’s land ordinances, sharply cur-tailing the issuance of temporary land use permits. TLC staffers found themselves charged nearly $200 every time they parked their mobile clinic—and greatly limited in how often they could park in one place. The costs made it prohibitive for the clinics to operate, and difficult for potential clients to know where the clinics would be.

Sterett’s firm filed suit on TLC’s behalf, a judge ruled in the center’s favor, and on February 26, the city coun-cil passed an amendment allowing the mobile clinic to operate as before. Sterett counted his work on the case among the more than 5,000 pro bono hours he’s logged as an Allied Attorney (two-and-a-half-years of work, valued at nearly $1 million)—and an opportunity “to live out my faith in a broken world where injustice is preva-lent, and there are hurting people.”

On April 7, the U.S. Supreme

Court declined to hear argu-

ments in Elane Photography v.

Willock, the case of a Christian

photographer, Elaine Huguenin,

who was penalized by the New

Mexico Human Rights Commis-

sion for declining to use her

creative talents to help “cele-

brate” a same-sex “commitment

ceremony.” (See Opinion, p. 18).

The New Mexico Supreme Court

ruling last summer, affirming

the Human Rights Commission’s

decision, remains for now, the

last word on the case. The omi-

nous implications of the state

high court’s ruling were under-

scored by a concurring state-

ment, issued by one of the jus-

tices, saying that being forced

to contribute her creativity to

activities she doesn’t believe in

is “the price of citizenship” in

America today.

That issue will continue to be

challenged in several other cas-

es currently being defended by

Alliance Defending Freedom.


On May 5, 2014, the U.S. Supreme

Court ruled 5-4 in favor of the town of

Greece, New York, affirming the con-

stitutionally protected right of local

officials to open civic meetings with

voluntary prayers led by local citizens.

Americans United for Separation

of Church and State had filed suit

against the town on behalf of two local

residents who objected to the com-

munity’s prayer tradition. In a bizarre

opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for

the 2nd Circuit had earlier ruled that,

because Greece is populated mainly

by Christians, it might need to import

non-Christians from outside the town

to lead non-Christian prayers—so that

those who believe differently won’t

“feel like outsiders.”

Alliance Defending Freedom attor-

neys have represented Greece officials

since the case began in 2008 (“The

Problem With Prayer In Greece, NY,”

Volume VII, Issue 1), arguing that there

is strong legal and historical precedent

for allowing deliberative bodies to

invoke the blessings of the Almighty

on their work, with the U.S. Supreme

Court itself affirming that right in

Marsh v. Chambers (1983).

“Opening public meetings with prayer

is a cherished freedom that the au-

thors of the Constitution themselves

practiced,” says ADF Senior Counsel

David Cortman. “Speech censors

should have no power to silence volun-

teers who pray for their communities

just as the Founders did.”

On April 3, the U.S. Court of

Appeals for the 2nd Circuit

ruled 2-1 that churches can-

not continue to hold weekend

worship services in New York

City’s public schools. The case

centers on the litigation that

first started in 1995 when Bronx

Household of Faith, a small,

inner-city congregation, chal-

lenged a city-wide prohibition

on community groups using

empty public schools to con-

duct worship services. The legal

to-and-fro surrounding Bronx

Household has ranged through

every level of the federal courts,

as Alliance Defending Freedom

attorneys work to secure equal

access to public buildings not

only for that congregation, but

for other churches and faith

groups as well.

Despite the adverse ruling, Bronx

Household and dozens of other

churches are still able to con-

tinue meeting in public schools

while the case is on appeal.

Vol. II, Iss. 2 HOUSE OF HOPE

POINT AND SHOOT Vol. II, Iss. 1

U p d a t e s

A VICTORY FOR PUBLIC PRAYER

I n T h e N e w s

“If we lived in a state where virtue was

profitable, common sense would make us

saintly. But since we see that abhorrence,

anger, pride, and stupidity commonly

profit far beyond charity, modesty, justice,

and thought, perhaps we must stand fast

a little—even at the risk of being heroes.”

—Sir Thomas More,

A Man For All Seasons

It’s been nearly a decade since Jon and

Elaine Huguenin left home and fam-

ily to make their life in the West. They

moved to Albuquerque and opened a

photography business, specializing in

weddings. Jon handled the finances,

Elaine was the artist—and was good

enough at it to make her reputation, in

just a few years, as one of the best in

the city. Hers, people saw, was much

more than just a professional grasp of

light and focus and composition. She

had … the gift.

One day, she opened an email from a

woman asking if she‘d be willing to use

her photographic artistry to “celebrate”

a same-sex “commitment ceremony.”

Elaine said no. She didn’t make ugly

comments. She didn’t outline the biblical

doctrines that motivate her beliefs. She

didn’t question the morality of people

whose beliefs differed from her own. She

simply clarified what she did shoot—

“traditional weddings, engagements,

seniors”—and thanked the woman for

her interest.

Soon after, the Huguenins learned that

the state was investigating their compa-

ny for sexual orientation discrimination.

In 2008, the New Mexico Human Rights

Commission found their company guilty,

ordering them to pay nearly $7,000

in attorneys’ fees. Three other courts

approved that verdict before the U.S.

Supreme Court, this spring, declined to

hear her case.

Across these eight tumultuous years,

the Huguenins have suffered in many

ways—all because Elaine politely de-

clined to use her artistic talents to “cel-

ebrate” and commemorate something

she doesn’t believe in, but to which lots

of other local photographers would have

happily contributed their artistry.

And make no mistake—it wasn’t her

camera, but her creative talents that

the lesbian couple who contacted Elaine

wanted to enlist. They weren’t asking her

to adjust a lens and push a button, but

to invest a part of her heart and soul in

something that violates her conscience,

and her deepest biblical convictions of

right and wrong.

Elaine is a Christian. She understands

that marriage and its ceremonies should

reflect the teachings of the Bible, which

says God ordained marriage as the union

of a man and a woman. That under-

standing is not tangential to her art—it

is the essence of it.

A great photographer uses her imagi-

nation, her informed observations, her

personal understanding to capture not

only a scene, or a moment … but the

life within that moment. Its meaning,

its themes, its true character. That’s

why any great photograph is as much

a window into the soul of the pho-

tographer as it is into those people

preserved in the picture. In trying to

force Elaine to take their pictures, the

couple was asking her to sacrifice the

very elements that made her talents so

uniquely attractive to them. In suing

her, they penalized her for being what

they wanted in the first place.

And now, the courts of America are

allowing them to do this: to tinker with

the soul of an artist, in the hopes of

bringing that same art out of a very

different soul.

In an opinion supporting the ruling of

the New Mexico Supreme Court against

Elaine, one of that court’s justices said

that giving up the right to live accord-

ing to one’s conscience and religious

beliefs is “the price of citizenship” in

America today.

The price is going up. To secure Chris-

tians’ endorsement of their choices,

those pressing the new social agenda

are willing to suppress human dignity,

rewrite the Constitution, erase reli-

gious liberty, and close down our busi-

nesses. In time, if we persist in resist-

ing, even these will not be enough. On

the other hand, if we yield … the price

will continue to rise.

Accommodation, like freedom, never

comes cheap. Which is why we must

stand fast—and, like the Huguenins,

risk being heroes.

Doug Napier is Senior Counsel, Executive

Vice President, and Chief Alliance Officer

for Alliance Defending Freedom.

Doug Napier


O p i n i o n

The Price Of Citizenship


Pass on a legacy of freedom. Please contact Lisa Reschetnikow at 800-835-5233 or [email protected] to discuss your legacy giving.

TODAY’S PLAN TOMORROW’S PROMISE

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Faith & Justice