Free association for me, not thee.

• Author: Slade, Stephanie
• Position: Religious freedom conflicts with anti-discrimination laws - Follow-Up

In 1993, Bill Clinton signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), thus ensuring the federal government would have to show a "compelling interest" before it could enforce a law infringing on the practice of religion. Six years later, then-Gov. George W. Bush, who was vying to replace Clinton at the White House, sought to put a statewide law on the books that would do the same in Texas. But as Steve France explained in the July 1999 issue of reason ("Establishment Pause"), liberal groups and politicians--who had roundly celebrated the federal bill--sang a different tune when it came to Bush's version.

Somewhere between Clinton and Bush, the realization had set in that respecting religious liberty at times means permitting someone to choose not to do business with certain classes of people. RFRAs "could entitle religious landlords, employers, and service providers to ignore laws that bar discrimination against gays, lesbians, and other minorities if those laws conflict with religious doctrines," wrote France. "Unable to tolerate the intolerance of religious conservatives, the [American Civil Liberties Union] has recently jumped ship, abandoning what it once praised as a 'simple and elegant' legislative restoration of traditional First Amendment doctrine."

Liberals' discomfort with letting people of faith decline to do business...