{"id":28301,"date":"2025-07-17T14:54:21","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T18:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=28301"},"modified":"2025-07-17T14:54:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T18:54:21","slug":"desantis-applauds-as-florida-earns-top-rank-in-defending-religious-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/07\/desantis-applauds-as-florida-earns-top-rank-in-defending-religious-freedom","title":{"rendered":"DeSantis Applauds as Florida Earns Top Rank in Defending Religious Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Left: Adobe Stock | Right: Gage Skidmore \/ Flickr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

First Liberty Institute\u2019s Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy (CRCD) has released its Religious Liberty in the States Index<\/a> and Florida was ranked as the number one state for religious freedom. The index ranks the 50 states based on their policies that promote such freedoms as religious exemptions, protections for religious organizations and schools, and the freedom of individuals to live out their faith in both public and private life. Other top states included Montana in second and Illinois in third. The lowest states were Michigan (48), Wyoming (49) and West Virginia at the bottom. This is the third year in a row that West Virginia has found itself on the bottom.<\/p>\n

Governor Ron DeSantis touted the state\u2019s high ranking in a statement. \u201cFlorida holds several #1 rankings, leading the nation in education, economy, and tourism\u2014and now, Florida is #1 in religious liberty. We\u2019re grateful for this recognition from the First Liberty Institute, which has just named Florida the #1 state in the nation for protecting religious liberty,\u201d the Governor stated<\/a>. \u201cReligious liberty is critical to the foundation and function of America, and I am proud that Florida excels in protecting this right.\u201d The statement touted such legislation as the Parents\u2019 Bill of Rights, which allows parents to object to school materials that violate their religious beliefs, legislation that would protect houses of worship from having services shut down by the State Emergency Management Act, and legislation that protected students giving religious invocations at school events, to name a few.<\/p>\n

This is the first time Florida has earned the number one spot. \u201cWe find that the states are laboratories of religious liberty where different protections for free exercise can be implemented and tested,\u201d wrote CRCD Executive Director Jordan Ballor. \u00a0\u201cOne of the major goals of the RLS project is to raise awareness of what different states are doing. There are positive lessons to be learned from this experimentation, as states that have been at the vanguard of protecting religious liberty can serve as exemplars for states that have lagged behind.” The report also highlighted the importance of new legislation to maintain religious liberty. Colorado, a formerly conservative state that has gone blue. The state had fallen to 43rd<\/sup> in 2024, though it had moved up to 34th<\/sup> in 2025 thanks to some new legislation. \u201cThis year\u2019s findings show clearly that states taking legislative action are pulling ahead. Under the leadership of Gov. DeSantis, Florida passed real laws that protect real people, and now the Sunshine State is the national leader in protecting religious liberty,\u201d stated Kelly Shackelford, president, CEO and chief counsel at First Liberty. \u201cIt\u2019s time for more states to follow Gov. DeSantis\u2019s example and adopt strong religious liberty laws.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First Liberty Institute\u2019s Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy (CRCD) has released its Religious Liberty in the States Index and Florida was ranked as the number one state for religious freedom. The index ranks the 50 states based on their policies that promote such freedoms as religious exemptions, protections for religious organizations and schools, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":28304,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDeSantis Applauds as Florida Earns Top Rank in Defending Religious Freedom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Florida ranks #1 for religious freedom in new national index, with strong laws protecting faith in schools, worship, and public life.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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