LC alum addresses religious freedom at C3 event
Brittany Jones, the director of Policy & Engagement for Kansas Family Voice, spoke on exercising religious freedoms in an increasingly secular culture to the attendees at the first Christ-Church-Culture (C3) event of the fall semester at Louisiana Christian University on Tuesday evening.
“Religious freedom and the freedom of conscience are foundational to protecting all other freedoms in our country,” Jones said. “As our country changes, it is important that Americans today understand how these freedoms were developed and how they impact them.”
Jones is a native of Pineville. She graduated from Louisiana Christian University in 2014 and earned her law degree from Regent University School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Washington, D.C., and Kansas.
Jones’ focus is primarily on issues of religious freedom, life, education choice, and combatting pornography. She has the privilege of shepherding policy through legislative as well as administrative processes while working alongside policymakers at all levels of government.
Religious freedom was extremely important to the founders of this country, she said.
“They were concerned because they’d been persecuted and seen people literally killed for not agreeing with the monarch,” Jones said.
In America, religious freedom is for everyone, and the law is mainly meant to protect minority belief systems. While many of the most recent decisions have dealt with Christianity, historically that has not been the case.
Today’s America, however, is starting to lose its moral foundation that has kept the nation functioning.
“We’re starting to lose that common thread of what is right and good,” Jones said.
Jones cited several recent cases where the U.S. Supreme Court did step in and overturn decisions from lower courts that had not protected religious freedom.
“The government can’t establish a religion, but people can still practice their faith even if they work for the government,” she said.
However, she said this issue is far from over, specifically addressing the rise in cases involving transgender issues and religious institutions as it relates to athletics and residence life.
Christine Reese, dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, was one of Jones’ major professors at LCU.
“I always knew that God was going to use her to do great things for Him,” Reese said. “It was a joy to reconnect with Brittany and to see how she has built upon the education she received at LCU to become a mature and thoughtful Christian who is working to transform the world for the glory of Christ.
=================================================================
Media Release | Sept. 12, 2023 | Pineville, Louisiana
Contact: Dr. Elizabeth B. Clarke, Director of University Communications | Elizabeth.clarke@lcuniversity.edu