FROM the freedom of religious belief and practice by believers who were threatened by outside oppression. Typically attacks on religious freedom victimize faith groups and came from governments and other larger faith groups.
TO the freedomdemanded by believers to oppress denigrate
others outside their group -- to discriminate against them, and to mount political campaigns to deny
them equal rights. Typically, their victims are women or members of sexual minorities.
A variant of this second group consist of mostly fundamentalist Mormon faith groups. They claim on -- religious grounds -- the freedom to ignore laws that criminalize bigamy and polygamy. They form partiarchal polygynous families in which women, child brides, and male youths are frequently abused.
Religious freedom once referred mostly to the freedom of various faith groups to express ideas and to engage in their religious
practices . Now it is becoming mostly
about the freedom for individuals and religious groups to take actions that limit other people's rights and freedoms without incurring negative consequences themselves.
Some attempts are being made to legalize religiously motivated discrimination by faith groups, faith-based agencies, individuals, and other groups. They are sometimes called "conscience clauses." This typically takes the form of:
Pharmacists who refuse for personal religious reasons to dispense prescribed medication of which they don't approve.
Religiously motivated crisis pregnancy centers who don't want to reveal to clients the exact range of services they provide and that their sole reason for existing is to reduce the number of women who have abortions.
Physicians, psychologists, and other therapists who refuse to help lesbians, gays, transsexuals, etc. even though the clinics that they work for have a policy of treating the general public.
Adoption agencies, and/or their employees, who don't want to consider to same-sex couples as adoptive parents.
Fertility clinics, and/or their employees, who don't want to provide services to same-sex couples or to homosexuals or bisexuals.
Town clerks who don't want to process marriage licenses for same-sex couples even though they have sworn an oath to not discriminate in their provision of state services.
Religious groups who receive funding under the federal government's faith-based initiative program but want to have the freedom to discriminate in hiring employees on grounds of religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.
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