A top leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says religious freedom is under attack in the United States. Elder Dallin Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke at Utah Valley University’s Center for Constitutional Studies on Wednesday.

Oaks said the inability of conservative scholars to publish in some academic journals and campus speech codes are examples of organizational restraints on both free speech and religious expression.

“These impositions on free speech are inconsistent with what is best in our American legal tradition," Oaks told his audience at UVU in Orem. "Although they often involve the popular rhetoric of rights and equality, in the end, these impositions erode the vital protections of freedom of thought, choice and expression.”

Oaks also cited the recent example of Brendan Eich, who resigned as C-E-O of the Mozilla Corporation after objections were raised to his contribution to the Proposition 8 campaign, which opposed same-sex marriage in California.

Oaks was named an honorary fellow during UVU’s Constitutional Symposium on Religious Freedom.