Celebrate Religious Freedom Victories at SCOTUS This Independence Day

As fireworks light the sky this Fourth of July, Americans will gather to honor the freedoms we hold sacred. The latest Supreme Court term offered fresh reason to believe that one of those freedoms — religious liberty — remains strong and secure. Although other cases may have dominated headlines, this was a remarkable term for religion, with the Court signaling renewed commitment to religious pluralism and to the principle that Americans shouldn’t have to check their faith at the door when they enter public life.

Look no further than Mahmoud v. Taylor. In that case, the Court handed down a historic victory for the right of parents to direct the religious upbringing of their children. The dispute arose when parents in Maryland’s Montgomery County Public Schools wanted to excuse their elementary-school children from storybooks that pushed extreme ideology regarding gender and sexuality. Some of these books — and the school board’s own instructional guidance — taught children as young as three that a decision to transition their gender doesn’t have to “make sense,” and that doctors only “guess[ed]” a child’s sex at birth and the children should go think about choosing pronouns. That’s a far cry from Goodnight Moon or Green Eggs and Ham.

MR

About the Author

Mark Rienzi

Mark Rienzi is the president and CEO of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and a law professor at the Catholic University of America.

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As fireworks light the sky this Fourth of July, Americans will gather to honor the freedoms we hold sacred. The latest Supreme Court term offered fresh reason to believe that one of those freedoms — religious liberty — remains strong and secure. Although other cases may have dominated headlines, this was a remarkable term for religion, with the Court signaling renewed commitment to religious pluralism and to the principle that Americans shouldn’t have to check their faith at the door when they enter public life.

Look no further than Mahmoud v. Taylor. In that case, the Court handed down a historic victory for the right of parents to direct the religious upbringing of their children. The dispute arose when parents in Maryland’s Montgomery County Public Schools wanted to excuse their elementary-school children from storybooks that pushed extreme ideology regarding gender and sexuality. Some of these books — and the school board’s own instructional guidance — taught children as young as three that a decision to transition their gender doesn’t have to “make sense,” and that doctors only “guess[ed]” a child’s sex at birth and the children should go think about choosing pronouns. That’s a far cry from Goodnight Moon or Green Eggs and Ham.