Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.
Well, given the streak of Supreme Court victories on religious liberty cases in recent years, a prominent commentator at the New York Times has announced that religious freedom in America is safer than ever.
However, considering that there's been such a consistent flow of court cases addressing threat after threat after threat to religious freedom, President Ronald Reagan's warning from decades ago is probably more prescient. He often said that freedoms never more than one generation away from extinction has to be fought for, protected, and handed on. For example, a law was recently passed in New York that eliminated the religious exemption for school vaccination requirements after a measles outbreak. The Amish have refused vaccinations throughout their history, but now they face fines of two thousand dollars per unvaccinated pupil per day. The only way to pay these fines is to sell their lands, or either they comply, as some have said, or they will have to abandon their farms and move away.
In Colorado, the state offers universal preschool funding, but then requires adherence to the state's policy on sexual orientation and gender identity. A Catholic preschool in the Archdiocese of Denver says this violates their First Amendment rights in contrast to secular preferences allowed by the policy.
So the Supreme Court will hear their case early. In the next term. In Ohio, an Orthodox Jewish resident wanted to host a small prayer gathering of about 15 men in his home on holy days to keep with Orthodox Judaism's restrictions on driving. But the town presented him with a cease and desist order, claiming Daniel Grand was operating an unlicensed house of worship, and then began monitoring the house to ensure his compliance. Grand's been on a multi-year legal quest to defend his religious freedom, and our friends at the Alliance Defending Freedom will soon argue this case also at the Supreme Court ADF is also defending an Oregon Christian mother enrolled in a district homeschooling partnership that reimburses parents for educational materials.
But this woman was denied reimbursement because her curriculum included Christian and biblical worldview material. Of course, it approved other materials, including some with different ideological content. In California, state and district policies limit what schools can tell parents about social transitions and gender identity without the student's consent. This is being challenged on the basis of both religious. Religious liberty and parental due process rights, it shouldn't even be an issue, as the Supreme Court already decided this in McMood v.
Taylor in 2025. But the state and especially individual districts are resisting complying with parental notice and opt-out rules. And then just this month in Arizona, police threatened to arrest a man for sharing the gospel. That believe it or not. A Christmas festival.
He's now also in a legal battle in Pennsylvania. Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church sought to build a chapel, shrine, and related facilities on its property, but the township has denied, or at least heavily conditioned, rezoning and permits, while allowing comparable secular structures throughout town, like country clubs and fitness centers. The case is before the Third Circuit Court. Other churches around the country face similar opposition to building on their own property, while businesses. Face no such restrictions.
In other words, this question of what constitutes religious liberty and what constitutes the limits of the state are constant conversations, and they are ongoing. And let's be clear: even in cases resolved in favor of religious liberty, the delays, the legal battles, the compliance processes often become the punishment. Think about Jack Phillips. Local governments and residents often don't understand the constitutional rights of religious citizens. And so, as with Jack Phillips, Baronel Stutzman, and others, state and local government officials are willing to subject people to fines, to cost, to court battles that last for years, no matter what the Constitution and the Supreme Court says.
So, yes, in recent years, many important religious liberty victories have been secured in the U.S. Supreme Court. But that does not mean that the threats to religious liberty have abated at all. They have not. In fact, it seems that they may have even increased.
And the constant attacks drain resources, time, and resolve.
So we have to continue in our commitment to uphold religious liberty and to support those doing the difficult work to defend it. As a quote, which is often inaccurately attributed to Thomas Jefferson, says, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." For the Coulson Center, I'm John Stone. Street with Breakpoint. Today's Breakpoint was co-authored with Dr. Glenn Sunshine.
If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download podcasts. And for more resources or to share this commentary with others, go to Breakpoint.org. Christian educators, this is Billy Hutchinson with Colson Educators. As a former teacher myself, I know you're busy, and I know you want to teach like a Christian, not just be a Christian who teaches.
Well, that's why we created the Coulson Educators app. You can get practical worldview training wherever you are. Complete courses on your schedule, earn CEUs, and connect with a community of like-minded educators. Download the Coulson Educators app on the Apple App Store or Google Play.
