by Jorge Gomez • 5 minutes
About a week ago, I went to the movies with my wife to watch Superman. Great movie, by the way. I recommend it.
I promise you this has a connection to religious freedom. So, just bear with me for a minute.
I love the DC Comics universe. It was far from the first time I’d watched a caped Clark Kent battle against the evil genius of LuthorCorp. I found myself thinking back to classic Superman comics. Then it hit me. I remembered the motto that for a long time defined the Man of Steel: Truth, Justice and the American Way.
When watching films, I’m always trying to find something—maybe a lesson or quote—that I can apply to my own life.
As I walked out of the theater, I kept hearing this phrase in my head: Not all superheroes wear capes. I couldn’t help but think of all the courageous heroes throughout American history who stood up for Truth, Justice and the American Way.
In 250 years of our nation’s history, there are simply too many of those heroes to count. Generals, presidents, entrepreneurs, religious leaders, civil rights advocates. There’s no shortage of heroic figures.
But, there are so many everyday American heroes who fly under the radar. They don’t get the recognition and praise they deserve. Some don’t even want any public fanfare.
I’m, of course, talking about First Liberty’s clients. People of faith like Coach Joe Kennedy, Gerald Groff, Marisol Castro, Pastor Chris Avell, Lacey Smith, Valerie Kloosterman, Jocelyn Boden, Rabbi Neftaly Hertzel, Aaron and Melissa Klein, and Carlos Encinas.
They’re just a few of the many clients First Liberty has had the privilege to represent.
They may not wear capes, but every First Liberty client is a hero. Each story shares a common thread: courage.
The Courage to Stand for Truth, Justice and the American Way
In the fight for religious liberty, it takes courage and guts to stand up for what you believe in.
In a culture that prefers lies, it takes courage to speak truth. Because speaking divinely inspired truth comes at a high cost.
It might be losing the job you love or the business you built. You risk souring the relationships with your HOA or neighbors, or even antagonizing the school district that’s in charge of your kids’ education. For an everyday American, it takes courage to make the difficult decision to take a giant corporation or government agency to court. Many times, you’re suing the city where you grew up—people you know in the place you call home.
Still, First Liberty clients count the cost and show courage. They show incredible boldness and resilience. They show spiritual fortitude. Because they know that when your God-given rights are violated, the right path is to pursue justice.
And whether the battle is in a local school district or at the U.S. Supreme Court, every one of them is fighting for something greater. Each one bravely taking a stand and fighting for the American Way.
We could probably spend a lifetime debating what “The American Way” means. We all have a different perspective of what it means to be American, or what the American experiment is all about. In many ways, I think that’s the beauty of our country and its founding principles—the freedom to believe what you want and to freely express all that you believe.
Still, I’ll argue there is one value that’s undeniably American. There’s one principle that brings us all together: religious freedom.
Let me explain: I’m a student of American history. I love it so much, I graduated from college and grad school with degrees in political science. So, I hope I learned something useful about our country’s history and traditions along the way!
Plus, after almost 10 years as an editor here at First Liberty, I’ve been able to dive deep and publish hundreds of articles exploring the role of faith and religious liberty in our nation’s founding—and how those two things have been present at every point in our history, all the way up to today.
So, after many years of study, I am fully convinced of this one truth:
Religious freedom is the American Way.
You can’t have America without religious freedom. It’s that simple. You just can’t.
Religious liberty is in our DNA. It’s in the fabric of our identity dating back to the first settlers who came to the New World, who fled oppression with a desire to worship God freely.
Religious freedom paved the way for America’s independence. It’s why the Declaration of Independence was so revolutionary. It was grounded in an eternal ideal: our rights come from God, not government.
And because those rights are endowed by a Creator, we have the liberty to live out our religious beliefs wherever we go, or to not believe at all. That’s the essence of true freedom. That’s the American experience.
The Constitution would be unrecognizable without religious liberty. Religious freedom was the most sacred freedom our Founders fought for. They enshrined it in our Bill of Rights as the First Freedom with purpose. Without freedom of religion, no other freedoms are possible. It’s the wellspring from which all other rights and freedoms flow.
“The Land of the Free” can only remain so because of those who display the courage to stand up for Truth, Justice and the American Way. We owe a big thank you to the unsung heroes who courageously sacrifice, battle in court and persevere.
When you think about these heroes, The Star-Spangled Banner just starts to hit differently. I find the tune all the more inspiring knowing our country is, without a doubt, the “Home of the Brave.”
Behind each First Liberty case, there is a story of bravery. Behind every lawsuit, there is a person of faith who felt a conviction to say, “I will fight.” They are the everyday American heroes who—without a cape, but clothed with courage—are saving our nation.
STORIES OF COURAGE
When His Compassion was Criminalized, This Pastor Courageously Fight Back
A Dad Fighting to Stop a Twisted Ideology that Victimizes Children
Three Women Who Stood for Biblical Truth—and Got Fired
This Family Stood Firm by Their Faith, Even When It Cost Them Everything
A Rabbi Fighting to Root Out Anti-Semitism in His Community
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