Why Religious Liberty Became Controversial

At Public Discourse today, I explain what led the Left to rebuke the authentically American understanding of religious liberty after the 1993 passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act:

Understanding why religious liberty became politically controversial requires more than just identifying the political fault lines. The underlying problem is our society’s movement toward a Rousseauian, and away from an authentically American, conception of religion’s role in public life. While our founders greatly valued religion as a public instructor of virtue, Rousseau thought that religions should only have educational power in spheres not relevant to society at large, and further that the state should determine those precise boundaries. The Left has progressed quite far along this track, and its members can hardly be expected to protect religious liberty unless they relearn its value for any free society.

Read the rest here .