Dallin Oaks: Freedom of Religion and Nondiscrimination

Dallin Oaks: Freedom of Religion and Nondiscrimination

From God Unites by Spiritual Unity in Religious Diversity

November 5, 2025 · 43 min · Episode 8

About this episode

Dallin H. Oaks discusses the complexities of religious freedom and nondiscrimination in a lecture at the University of Virginia.

President Dallin H. Oaks of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints speaks on religious freedom and nondiscrimination in giving the 2021 Joseph Smith Lecture on Religious Liberty at the University of Virginia. (Republished with permission.) (Link to transcript below.) As host David Risley says in the introduction to this episode, "I worry that freedom of religion is getting a bad name, coming to be regarded by many as little more than a claimed justification for discrimination against disfavored groups, sometimes even those with differing religious beliefs and beliefs about religion." This episode is different than most because it features a prerecorded lecture, rather than a live guest. The lecture is far more dense with substance and value than could be packed into a conversation. It is foundational to discourse on this topic and will be a point of reference in future discussions on religious freedom. The speaker, Dallin H. Oaks, is formerly a law professor at the University of Chicago Law School, former President of Brigham Young University and Utah Supreme Court Justice, now President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. President Oaks has become a…

People in this episode

Host: David Risley

Guest: Dallin H. Oaks

Topics covered

  • religious freedom
  • nondiscrimination
  • religious liberty
  • law
  • society

Keywords

  • Joseph Smith Lecture
  • University of Virginia
  • The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

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