Proof: the character in citizens needed for American Freedom to function are developed through honoring, trusting, and obeying the Bible
It is a “legitimate government interest” to “favor” any religion to the extent it builds character qualities essential to freedom. Evidence that it does is thus relevant in religious exercise cases.
Some examples:
* service to others (Luke 22:25-27 “... he that is greatest among you, let him be as...he that doth serve. ...”; American society honors most those who serve most, and most compensation is voluntarily given by those served to providers),
* respect for all (Genesis 1:27 “God created man in his own image...”),
* honesty (Proverbs 6:16-17 “... These...doth the LORD hate...a lying tongue...”, Matthew 19:18 “...Jesus said...thou shalt not bear false witness...”; fraud and bribery are crimes and scandals in America. George Washington’s Farewell Address articulates the Compelling Government Interest, especially in court, of Christian influence, in honest witnesses: “Let it simply be asked, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths [and affirmations] which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice?” September 17, 1796
Blackstone’s Commentaries 4, 43-44: “The belief of a future state of rewards and punishments, the entertaining just ideas of the the moral attributes of the Supreme Being, and a firm persuasion that he superintends and will finally compensate every action in human life all which are clearly revealed in the doctrines, and forcibly inculcated by the precepts of our savior Christ. These are the grand foundation of all judicial oaths; which call God to witness the truth of those facts, which perhaps may be only known to him and the party attesting: all moral evidence therefore, all confidence in human veracity, must be weakened by apostacy, and overthrown by total infidelity.”)
* tolerance for morally neutral differences (Galatians 3:28 “(CEV) Faith in Christ Jesus (as opposed to followers of cruel, dehumanizing, violent religions) is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman.” Americans value freedom of speech and religion, rejecting “swordpoint conversions” and prosecution of dissent; we oppose discrimination over morally neutral differences. By contrast, tolerance for those who look or think different is not found in religions uninfluenced by the Bible, or practiced by their truest followers),
* impartiality (“Due Process”) (Exodus 23:8 “(CEV) Don't accept bribes. Judges are blinded and justice is twisted by bribes.” We demand equal rights and opportunities for all in which people are judged and rewarded for their service and character),
* peacemakers (Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”; We address wrongs with reason, evidence, and law, and jail those who start physical fights; we do not go to war to gain territory, slaves, or booty, but only to defend ourselves and others), and
* obedience to, support for legitimate law (Romans 13:1-5 “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.” Notice “higher powers” is plural, raising the question, how about when a “higher power” conflicts with the “highest power”? Acts 5:29 “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Just as in American law where federal law trumps local law, we are called to obey the “highest power”, no matter the cost. 1 Peter 2:13 says, in the KJV, “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake:” which sounds like blind legalistic slavish obedience to Hitler, Stalin, SCOTUS, or whatever God-defying dictator controls the police. But a translation faithful to the original words and consisistent with the actions of Bible heroes is “pattern your lives according to human relationships as God has created them for the benefit of man”, beginning with government/citizen, 1 Peter 2:13; then employer/employee, 2:18; husband/wife, 3:1; neighbor/neighbor, 3:8; pastors/ flock, 5:1; younger/older, 5:5; all of you/each other, 5:5.
It is a “compelling government interest” to support those foundational virtues over religions which are relatively hostile to Freedom, though without physically or financially coercing anyone’s conscience, which destroys Freedom. (1 Timothy 1:5 “(BSB) The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.” Romans 13:5 “(BSB) Therefore it is necessary to submit to authority, not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.”)
Plain common sense agrees that respect for just, God-honoring laws is incompatible with obeying whatever the police tell you to do to not be arrested, however evil their rules. Being truly “law abiding” requires confronting, not obeying, laws from Hell, following the example of Peter in Acts 5:29, Jesus especially in Matthew 23, and several of our “Examples of Faith” listed in Hebrews 11. Rebellion against the unjust laws of England were the birth pangs of American Freedom. Rebellion against the unjust laws of England were the birth pangs of American Freedom, reflected in a motto of the revolution: “Rebellion against tyranny is obedience to God.”
Matthew 22:21 “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God’s.”
The Bible calls us all to actively participate in Freedom. It is the “compelling government interest” of free governments to uncensor that truth.