Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21a145_gfbi.pdf
Page Number: 11

Cite as:  595 U. S. ____ (2021) 

11 

GORSUCH, J., dissenting 

difference between achieving a crucial vaccination thresh-
old, it may be that denying exemptions beyond that thresh-
old number could qualify as a narrowly tailored rule neces-
sary to achieve a compelling state interest.  Again, though,
the problem is that New York does not even seek to advance
an argument along these or any similar lines. 

III 
Today,  we  do  not  just  fail  the  applicants.    We  fail  our-
selves.  It is among our Nation’s proudest boasts that, “[i]f 
there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it
is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be 
orthodox in [matters of] religion.”  West Virginia State Bd. 
of Ed. v. Barnette, 319 U. S. 624, 642 (1943).  In this coun-
try,  “religious  beliefs  need  not  be  acceptable,  logical,  con-
sistent,  or  comprehensible  to  others  in  order  to  merit  . . . 
protection.”  Thomas v. Review Bd. of Ind. Employment Se-
curity Div., 450 U. S. 707, 714 (1981).  Nor is the free exer-
cise of religion “limited to beliefs which are shared by all of 
the members of a religious sect.”  Id., at 715–716.  Millions 
have fled to this country to escape persecution for their un-
popular or unorthodox religious beliefs, attracted by Amer-
ica’s promise that “[e]very citizen here is in his own country.
To the protestant it is a protestant country; to the catholic, 
a catholic country; and the jew, if he pleases, may establish
in it his New Jerusalem.”  People v. Phillips, 1 W. L. J. 109, 
112–113 (Gen. Sess., N. Y. 1813), reported in W. Sampson, 
The Catholic Question in America 85 (1813).

As today’s case shows, however, sometimes our promises
outrun our actions.  Sometimes dissenting religious beliefs
can seem strange and bewildering.  In times of crisis, this 
puzzlement can evolve into fear and anger.  It seems Gov-
ernor Hochul’s thinking has followed this trajectory, and I 
suspect she is far from alone.  After all, today a large ma-
jority  of  Americans—religious  persons  included—have 
taken one of the COVID–19 vaccines.  It is also true that