Can religious liberty truly exist where other rights are trampled?
Today I read a heartbreaking article about a Catholic nun who was arrested by ICE agents on Sunday while she walked to Mass in her habit in South Texas.
Sister Leticia Ugboaja was released the next day, but only after parish officials posted her story on social media and it gained traction in the news, leading to intervention of members of the United States Congress on her behalf.
ICE, of course, refuse to comment on the incident. But this is not the first time ICE agents have arrested someone who was in the very act of exercising their religious freedom. There are numerous accounts of ICE raids in and around places of worship. And who knows how many people who have been arrested in this manner may still be in ICE concentration camps without the intervention of members of Congress on their behalf.
This story had me asking myself: can we truly have religious liberty in a country with a federal government that can and does infringe on other rights every day?
On the last Sunday in May of this year (2026), congregations in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United States had a special lesson on the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, with an emphasis on the importance of religious liberty.
LDS Church leaders have also asked that all members engage in a special fast on Sunday July 5th, 2026 to “express gratitude for religious liberty and to pray that it be strengthened throughout the world.”
I believe this is indeed a worthwhile and good cause for a fast. But this call rings hollow for me because of the Church's near silence when it comes to attacks on other God-given, Constitutionally protected rights in the United States and elsewhere. If we believe, as the Founding Father did, that all our rights come from God, and that it is the duty of government to protect those rights, why does LDS church leadership not consistently speak out when any of those rights are infringed and declare the doctrine of Jesus Christ on such matters?
This coming Sunday, I will be fasting not just for religious freedom, but for ALL our God-given rights to be protected from this madness. Because, religious liberty is really just liberty, and all rights are in need of protection.
#100DaysToOffload (No. 161) #faith #Christianity #politics