While I have little sympathy for the views behind these state RFRA laws that have created so much controversy, it’s hard to dismiss their explicit arguments out of hand. Religious freedom is indeed a bedrock of U.S. culture and tradition. So, for better or for worse, are assertions of individual rights—and competing assertions of rights don’t lend themselves to easy answers. Unless you’re prepared to say one or the other claim is wholly illegitimate, some sort of accommodation must be reached.
Yes, this particular flavor of religious freedom can taste pretty sour. I reject the idea that opposition to same-sex marriage is a tenet of Christianity, central or otherwise, and even if it were it’s not clear to me how keeping your hands clean of someone else’s celebration somehow amounts to Christian practice. Besides, I’d like to think that any conversation about religious freedom and marriage would take as its starting point that a civil marriage ceremony has nothing to say for or against my religious views or anybody else’s.
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