Religion and Belief
'Religious freedom' is not just for Christian conservatives. Liberals must take it back.
Liberals of faith should cite the beliefs that fuel their support for abortion, migrants, LGBTQ rights and fights against racism and climate change.
Tom Krattenmaker
Opinion columnist
Religious freedom seems to be on a winning streak.
Victories are piling up at the Supreme Court: for churches to reopen contrary to coronavirus restrictions, for a publicly funded faith-based foster care agency to exclude care-givers who are gay, for Christian employers to enjoy exemptions from having to provide certain contraceptives in worker health plans.
Politicians and activists are aggressively asserting religious liberty in their fight against LGBTQ acceptance, public health measures, and other perceived threats. One of the most novel claims: a lawsuit by a Catholic school claiming that anti-COVID-19 masks hide faces made in God’s image and, thus, constitute a violation of the religious liberty of those forced to wear them.