Is My Phylactery Showing?

The current context of global pandemic has raised many considerations around civil liberties, protections for individual conscience, and the common good. Many people take it for granted that their constitutional guarantees of freedom of conscience, religion, and thought are absolute and unassailable. However, legal precedent demonstrates that this is not the case in the United States or Canada and that case law consistently demonstrates that the judiciary will permit override of personal liberties when there is a compelling state interest. How can the state best approach this challenge while still respecting freedom of conscience for its citizens?

In the thought of ethicists, philosophers, and various Catholic institutions, freedom of conscience is considered a fundamental right.