Catholics, Stop Monopolizing Religious Liberty

Recently, anti-LGBT activist Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association boldly claimed on his radio show that “[w]e can’t have homosexuality and the First Amendment.” The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops says pretty much the same thing about equal benefits for women when they rail against the Obama administration’s new rules requiring insurance plans to cover birth control. This type of argument is getting a lot of play lately, and it’s often accepted uncritically – despite the fact that it betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the First Amendment and its protections for religious liberty. Unfortunately, it’s a misunderstanding we’ve seen in past civil rights struggles – but fortunately, it’s also one that we’ve resoundingly rejected.