Society's Moment of Truth: Conscience or Coercion?

Dr. Conrad Vine, a passionate religious freedom advocate living in the United States, discusses the historical roots of religious freedom, from Martin Luther to Roger Williams, along with current social concerns such as Bill 67 in Ontario. He approaches difficult topics such as reconciliation and critical race theory with sensitivity and insight.

In our increasingly secular world, religious freedom is sometimes seen as discriminatory or intolerant. However, as Dr. Bussey and his guest explain, the many rights and freedoms that we value in the West have their origins in the protection of individual conscience that developed from a religious context.

For example, some people associate tolerance with the sexual revolution, but it arose earlier from a Protestant conviction that allowed for disagreement without denying the rights of fellow citizens. Today's "tolerance" is actually intolerant, since it insists that everyone must accept a certain perspective or be cancelled. This is very different from the respect that figures like Roger Williams advocated!

Visit Dr. Vine's website at https://pastorconradvine.com/

For more on how freedom of conscience and religion may be seen as a "prototypical" right which paved the way for other freedoms in the West (including an analysis of Roger Williams), read Dr. Bussey's academic paper, "Blazing the Path: Freedom of Conscience as the Prototypical Right" (Supreme Court Law Review 2020).

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Please note the views expressed by the individual(s) in this video are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views or principles of the First Freedoms Foundation.