Bear in mind that when white evangelical Protestants (WEPs) talk about "religious liberty," they're talking about much more than that. They're talking about political power - who controls it, who's subject to it, how and why. This isn't to separate good religion from bad politics. As I said Monday, these are not easily disentangled. This is to say, however, that bad politics often follows, and is subordinate to, bad religion.
For many liberals and leftists, the solution is hostility toward all religion. If we can push religion out of the public square, they say, we can minimize its influence on politics. The First Amendment's establishment clause demands religion's absence from public affairs. While this seems principled, it's counter-productive. The more liberals and leftists push religion to the margins of politics, the more conservative religionists push back, arming themselves with the cudgel of "religious freedom."
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