Freedom of religion is a principle rooted in several presuppositions. First is the presupposition of religion itself as inherently beneficial to society. Religion ought to be free because religion ought to flourish. A society in which religion flourishes is a better society than one in which religion is controlled or discouraged. That is, a society in which religion flourishes is a truly free society.
Second is the presupposition of mutual respect among the various religious parties. While the path has not always been easy, the U.S. has progressed over the last 200+ years into a society in which Jews and Christians, Protestants and Catholics have been able to co-exist peacefully and respectfully while, along the way, assimilating several distinctly American religions (Mormonism, Scientology) and some lesser Eastern religions (which usually come and go according to the latest pop culture fads) into its religiously pluralistic culture.
Aside from atheism (which is a philosophy, not a religion), Islam is emerging as the one glaring exception to the mutual respect necessary for religion to flourish in a free society. Insisting on building a mosque on the ground held sacred by persons of all faiths is merely the latest illustration of the Islamic tendency toward supremacy and triumphalism that is, as yet, untempered by its interaction with the wider American religious culture. Yes, there is a time for celebrating freedom and extolling the virtues of this grand experiment we call America. But there is also a time to offer sober and respectful guidance to those new to the American experience, so as to instill in them an understanding of the responsibility which that freedom requires of them.
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