Neil Gorsuch, the Supreme Court, and Religious Freedom

What would the confirmation of Gorsuch to the Supreme Court of the United States mean for the First Amendment and for religious-freedom-under-law? This is, to put it mildly, an interesting time when it comes to these matters. The so-called “culture wars” do not seem to be abating, conventional religious observance and affiliation appears to be declining, and the nature—even the value—of religious liberty seems increasingly contested. Not long ago, President Clinton called religious freedom our “first freedom”; today, our leading newspapers tend to put it in scare-quotes.