by Todd Huizinga, Restoring the West
A new report purports to celebrate religious liberty for all; in reality it disparages orthodox Christianity and undercuts the freedoms of all morally traditional people of faith.
Responding to:
“Religious Liberty for All: Celebrating This Founding Freedom at America 250”
Published by the Center for American Progress and allied organizations on June 15, 2026
The core disagreement: To claim patriotic devotion to religious liberty as the “founding freedom at America 250,”—while denigrating an important good-faith effort to safeguard that very freedom—is unconvincing at best, despotic at worst.
WHAT THEY GOT RIGHT
Made up of contributions by five Democratic politicians and fifteen leaders of progressive religious organizations, “Religious Liberty for All” directs all of its misplaced hostility at President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission. Nevertheless, the authors’ apparent vision of “religious freedom rooted in the First Amendment, built on the separation of church and state, and grounded in…[human dignity and] the realities of a multireligious nation” is laudable. They are right to affirm religious liberty as “one of the cornerstones of our nation.”
WHERE THEY GO WRONG
Despite their sincerity, the authors’ calls to “embrace diversity,” “perform radical love,” and “honor free expression” fit poorly with their consistent smearing of the Religious Liberty Commission’s work. After all, the RLC has done exactly what these detractors claim to support: promoted religious liberty for all. Ultimately, their objection is that the RLC understands religious freedom for all to include morally traditional Christians. peaking in broad generalities while avoiding specifics that can be verified or falsified, the report claims that the RLC, in supporting conservative Christianity, weaponizes religious freedom as “a privilege reserved for the majority,” that determines “who belongs, whose rights are protected, and who has power.” Ultimately, their objection is that the RLC understands religious freedom for all to include morally traditional Christians.