Americans are discussing the topic of “religious freedom” quite a lot these days, which might give us the impression that religious freedom is one fixed thing. Or perhaps some would say it used to be one thing but has become something else since the time of the Founding. This Liberty Forum essay will argue that the situation, both historically and today, is more complex than either view.
I want to argue that there is indeed a core or center to the idea of religious freedom in America but that this core or center is at the intersection of, or overlap among, three quite different conceptions of religious freedom, which have a great area of non-overlap as well. It is in the areas of non-overlap, I will argue, where the great constitutional and political battles over the place of religious freedom in American political life occur.
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