Audio: Believe what you want but...

The American right to freedom of religion is not a license to break the law

By Will Femia

Producer

MSNBC

updated 12:11 p.m. ET April 21, 2008

The lifestyle and practices unveiled by the police raid on a polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints compound in Texas range from odd to abhorrent in the eyes of most Americans. But being weird isn't against the law in America, and when it's religiously prescribed weirdness it's especially protected. So where is the line between protected religious practices and prohibited criminal acts?

Marci Hamilton is a professor, author and expert on the issue of whether religious practices that violate the law should be accommodated. Hamilton joined msnbc.com's Will Femia on the phone to explain how the law views the circumstances of the children taken from the FLDS compound and offers insights on the children's eventual fate.

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