The other day here at First Thoughts, Matthew Schmitz commented on ” Jay Michaelson’s Error-Riddled Conspiracy Theory ” about present-day campaigns to defend religious freedom. A closer examination revealed that maybe there was a whole lot more to be said on this tendentious “report” of Michaelson’s. At least I thought so. And so I’ve said it NRO s Bench Memos in a three-part series today here , and here , and here . UPDATE: Links corrected.