SALT LAKE CITY – A high-ranking Mormon leader said he believes protections for religious freedom of speech are eroding.
Dallin H. Oaks, a member of The Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Quorum of the Twelve, spoke on the topic at Utah Valley University in his first legal lecture since he left his post as a Utah Supreme Court justice and became a member of the second-highest governing body of the church.
Oaks lamented the fact that some people are trying to push religious values “off the public square” by suggesting they are either irrational or based on hate.
Oaks argued that “religious leaders and religiously motivated persons should have the same privileges of speech and participation as any other persons or leaders.”
As an example of the incursions on this right, Oaks cited the boycotts, firings and intimidations that have come against people who supported California’s Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage six years ago
