# Religious Liberty Is the Law, Not the Exception to It _The First Amendment does not say Americans have the right to believe quietly. It says Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion. Exercise. The practice of faith, not just the holding of it._ By Zac Martin. Published 2026-06-13. Canonical URL: https://zac4sd.com/blog/religious-liberty Platform pillar: N. Religious Liberty and Conscience Protection The First Amendment does not say Americans have the right to believe quietly. It says Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion. Exercise. The practice of faith, not just the holding of it. That distinction is the whole fight. Almost nobody in American politics argues against belief. The pressure today lands on practice: the nurse asked to assist with a procedure that violates her conscience, the counselor told which convictions he may bring to work, the faith-based foster agency told to choose between its mission and its beliefs, the congregation whose worship gets disrupted by people who face no consequences for it. My faith matters to me. I believe the Bible, and I believe the founders knew exactly what they were doing when they made the free exercise of religion the first freedom in the Bill of Rights. South Dakota should lead the country in restoring it. ## What I will support in Pierre **Protect houses of worship.** The 2026 legislature took up SB 113, putting real penalties on the intentional disruption of religious services. A congregation at worship deserves the same protection the law gives a courtroom or a classroom. **Protect conscience across the professions.** Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, counselors, and teachers should never be forced to choose between their license and their faith. Conscience protection does not deny anyone care. It protects the people who provide care from being conscripted into procedures that violate their deepest convictions. **Protect faith-based adoption and foster care.** Faith-based agencies have placed more children in loving homes than any government program ever has. When the state squeezes them out, children wait longer for families. Kids pay the price for someone else's ideological win. ## What this is not This is not a license to mistreat anyone. Nothing I support gives any business or professional permission to deny a person ordinary service because of who they are. The line I am drawing is narrower and older than the culture war: the government cannot compel a citizen to participate in expressive acts or ceremonies that violate their faith, and it cannot strip a religious institution of its identity as the price of existing in public life. ## Common questions ### "This is just a license to discriminate." Nothing in what I support gives anyone permission to mistreat anyone. What I oppose is the state forcing a person to participate in ceremonies or expressive activities that violate their deepest beliefs. Conscience is not a license to harm. It is a shield against compulsion. ### "Medical professionals took an oath. If they can't do their job, they should find another one." The Hippocratic tradition begins with first, do no harm. Telling a nurse she must choose between participating in a procedure she believes is harmful and losing her career is not medical ethics. It is ideological coercion, and it will drive good people out of medicine in a state that cannot afford to lose them. Conscience and compassion go together. ### "Separation of church and state means religion doesn't belong in public life." The First Amendment prohibits the government from establishing a religion. It does not prohibit citizens from practicing theirs, including in public. Religious liberty belongs to every citizen, of every faith, everywhere they go. That is the American settlement, and it has served us for two and a half centuries. ### "Faith-based agencies that won't place children with every couple should lose state contracts." When the state forces faith-based agencies to choose between their faith and their mission, the agencies close, and the children wait. More agencies of every kind means more children placed in loving homes. Kids first. Ideology last. ## Take the next step Read the full Religious Liberty platform at **zac4sd.com**. If you believe the first freedom should still be first, donate or sign up to volunteer. Strong families. Strong South Dakota. --- Paid for by Zac Martin for South Dakota.