First Amendment expert links religious freedom to global interfaith work in Spokane talk

By Cassy Benefield| FāVS News Reporter

Lawyer and First Amendment scholar Hannah Clayson Smith discussed how the U.S. Constitution’s religious freedom protections can support interfaith work globally during a Thursday night talk to about 100 people in Spokane.

Smith explained why this work matters not only to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which she is a member, but also to her personal faith.

“Building bridges of understanding with our neighbors of other faiths allows us to be more like Jesus Christ, who loved and served many who were of a different faith than Him,” Smith explained in an email to FāVS News after the presentation.

Hosted by the Spokane Stake of the Church and the Spokane Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, the “Religion and Law in Washington” presentation covered religious freedom, free speech and religion and society. 

Smith first highlighted religious freedom ratings in Washington State. She noted that the Religious Liberty in the States Index rated Washington eighth in the nation for legal safeguards for religious freedom — one point ahead of Utah.

In contrast, the Napa Legal Institute’s Faith and Freedom Index ranks Washington 50th overall, designating it as one of the worst places to operate a faith-based nonprofit.

Logan Eves, a first-year Gonzaga student from Utah and LDS member, came to the presentation. He said he was interested to learn that religious freedoms still need protection, particularly in states like Washington. He pointed to the recent challenges involving Catholic confessional and the Yakima Union Gospel Mission’s fight to hire employees who share their same sexual ethics and values.

Eves also appreciated how Smith connected interfaith dialogue and advocacy for religious freedoms with his Church’s teachings and values.

“The humanitarian work that we do outside of religion, even as well just to respect everybody and their beliefs, even if they don’t have any beliefs, … is just one of the key things that we have as a religion and that I really love and resonate with,” he said.

Smith expanded her presentation to discuss how religious freedom issues extend beyond the United States and into other countries, tying the topic to her role as the associate director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS). 

In that role, Smith has helped advance religious freedom within foreign governments not by trying to “export the First Amendment,” but by helping countries “understand what the international governing standards are,” she said.

Her expertise has also taken her to the Supreme Court as a law clerk to Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, and to the Becket Fund, where she helped secure four landmark Supreme Court victories. 

The event, held at the Spokane Stake Chapel on 63rd Avenue, was open to the entire community, though the audience largely consisted of Latter-day Saints, said Jeff Elmer, the Church’s interfaith communication specialist in Eastern Washington and Idaho and one of the event’s coordinators.

Elmer said one purpose of inviting the broader community was to “lay the groundwork” for understanding surrounding the planned construction of a temple in Coeur d’Alene, ensuring neighbors are “invited to come and see” and ask questions.

“The history of our church had to be insular for a long, long time,” Elmer said, referencing the Church’s founding and early persecution in America. “Then as our church began to expand … people [started] coming to the Church from multiple cultures, multiple races and multiple languages and backgrounds. So we have to be more open and tolerant and understanding of those cultures.”

While the Church openly acknowledges its strong proselytizing focus, Smith said in her email that this does not define its work in defending religious freedom for all. 

“Becoming better neighbors with those of other faith communities is not a disguised effort to expand our missionary opportunities,” she said. “Interfaith work is an important work in and of itself. We don’t proselytize in the interfaith space, but simply try to become better neighbors by understanding others and serving them as Christ would.”

As part of that mission, Smith encouraged both Latter-day Saints and members of other faith communities to “catch the vision of protecting religious freedom.”

“Become involved in multi-faith engagement in your communities, and when you see a problem do something about it,” she said.

Smith ended with reading a quote answering the question “What then is society?” by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks from his book, “The Home We Build Together.”

“‘What then is society? … It is where strangers can become friends. It is not a vehicle to salvation, but it is the most effective form yet devised for respectful coexistence. This is the home we build together. Our gifts into the common good,’” she read.

In her email to FAVS News, Smith wrote that she hopes this mission is highlighted as America approaches its 250th anniversary.

“I hope that young and old would learn more about the unique opportunity we have as Americans to build communities that truly recognize religious freedom for everyone everywhere all the time,” she said.

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