The following video resources are provided for the news media covering Elder Dallin H. Oaks speech at Chapman University on 4 February 2011. A news release covering the speech can be found here.
Interview With Elder Dallin H. Oaks Regarding Chapman University Speech on Religious Freedom:
Download link: http://broadcast.lds.org/newsroom/2011-02-0030-elder-oaks-pre-int2-1500k-eng.mov
Broadcast-quality, downloadable video of Elder Dallin H. Oaks full speech at Chapman University:
"Our society is not held together just by law and its enforcement, but most importantly by voluntary obedience to the unenforceable and by widespread adherence to unwritten norms of right or righteous behavior. Religious belief in right and wrong is a vital influence to advocate and persuade such voluntary compliance by a large proportion of our citizens.1 Others, of course, have a moral compass not expressly grounded in religion."
Download link: http://broadcast.lds.org/newsroom/2011-02-0040-oaks-chapman-sot1-1500k-eng.mov
"I submit that religious values and political realities are so inter-linked in the origin and perpetuation of this nation that we cannot lose the influence of religion in our public life without seriously jeopardizing our freedoms."
Download link: http://broadcast.lds.org/newsroom/2011-02-0040-oaks-chapman-sot2-1500k-eng.mov
"I submit that religious values and political realities are so inter-linked in the origin and perpetuation of this nation that we cannot lose the influence of religion in our public life without seriously jeopardizing our freedoms."
Download link: http://broadcast.lds.org/newsroom/2011-02-0040-oaks-chapman-sot2-1500k-eng.mov
"The guarantee of religious freedom is one of the supremely important founding principles in the United States Constitution, and it is reflected in the constitutions of all 50 of our states. As noted by many, the guarantee's “pre-eminent place” as the first expression in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution identifies freedom of religion as “a cornerstone of American democracy.”
Download link: http://broadcast.lds.org/newsroom/2011-02-0040-oaks-chapman-sot3-1500k-eng.mov
"A few generations ago the idea that religious organizations and religious persons would be unwelcome in the public square would have been unthinkable. Now, such arguments are prominent enough to cause serious concern. It is not difficult to see a conscious strategy to neutralize the influence of religion and churches and religious motivations on any issues that could be characterized as public policy."
Download link: http://broadcast.lds.org/newsroom/2011-02-0040-oaks-chapman-sot4-1500k-eng.mov
"What has caused the current public and legal climate of mounting threats to religious freedom? I believe the cause is not legal but cultural and religious. I believe the diminished value being attached to religious freedom stems from the ascendency of moral relativism.
More and more of our citizens support the idea that all authority and all rules of behavior are man-made and can be accepted or rejected as one chooses. Each person is free to decide for himself or herself what is right and wrong. Our children face the challenge of living in an increasingly godless and amoral society."
Download link: http://broadcast.lds.org/newsroom/2011-02-0040-oaks-chapman-sot5-1500k-eng.mov
"The founders who established this nation believed in God and in the existence of moral absolutes—right and wrong—established by this Ultimate Law-giver. The Constitution they established assumed and relied on morality in the actions of its citizens. Where did that morality come from and how was it to be retained? Belief in God and the consequent reality of right and wrong was taught by religious leaders in churches and synagogues, and the founders gave us the First Amendment to preserve that foundation for the Constitution.
The preservation of religious freedom in our nation depends on the value we attach to the teachings of right and wrong in our churches, synagogues and mosques. It is faith in God—however defined—that translates these religious teachings into the moral behavior that benefits the nation."
Download link: http://broadcast.lds.org/newsroom/2011-02-0040-oaks-chapman-sot6-1500k-eng.mov
"We must never see the day when the public square is not open to religious ideas and religious persons. The religious community must unite to be sure we are not coerced or deterred into silence by the kinds of intimidation or threatening rhetoric that are being experienced. Whether or not such actions are anti-religious, they are surely anti-democratic and should be condemned by all who are interested in democratic government. There should be room for all good-faith views in the public square, be they secular, religious, or a mixture of the two. When expressed sincerely and without sanctimoniousness, the religious voice adds much to the text and tenor of public debate."