Douglas V. Gibbs ——Bio and Archives--February 5, 2026

Cover Story | CFP Comments | Reader Friendly | Subscribe | Email Us

In America, we have developed an unhealthy dependence on legal precedent. Instead of grounding our freedoms in the self‑evident, God‑given rights the Founders recognized, we increasingly allow unelected lawyers, elevated to the status of judicial elites, to redefine those rights from the bench. Over time, the public has been conditioned to believe that a judge’s opinion is the true measure of legality and morality, as if the Constitution itself were secondary to the interpretations of those who wear black robes. As a result, people now look to court rulings to validate or condemn their actions, and when no legal consequences follow, it becomes an open invitation for others to repeat the same behavior.

Religious liberty resides at the very root of the American story. Christianity was not a decorative ideal for the early colonists; it was the reason many of them braved the Atlantic. They fled systems where government presumed authority over the soul. The Founders inherited that memory and understood that a free people cannot exist when the state, or any ideological movement, claims jurisdiction over conscience.

While natural rights like speech, press, assembly, and the right to keep and bear arms are essential, the First Amendment begins with the freedom of worship: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Religious liberty appears first because it is the fountainhead of all other liberties. If the state can command your conscience, it can command anything.

From that principle flows a simple reality: churches are not public venues. They are private institutions--voluntary associations of believers--existing outside the realm of government precisely because they are not arms of the state. A church is not a park, courthouse, or community center. It is a........

© Canada Free Press