Commentary
Intolerant secularism is on the march. In a blatant campaign of cultural imperialism, secularists and their leftist allies aim to shrivel the “free exercise” of religion to mere “freedom of worship.”
Freedom of religion and worship aren’t the same concepts. Indeed, free exercise was ably described by the late Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy as having “a double aspect—freedom of thought and action.” In other words, we are not merely free to believe, but (generally speaking) to also act in the public square according to our faith precepts.
Freedom of worship is more limited. The Catholic Church can teach that the Eucharistic bread and wine transform into the literal body and blood of Christ, while Protestant denominations are equally at liberty to believe that Communion has a symbolic purpose. Mosques and Orthodox synagogues can require women to be segregated from men during services. Pentecostal Christians can speak in tongues. You get the idea….