Dr. Al Mohler recently wrote about the conflict between religious liberty and erotic liberty. He says we are witnessing an unavoidable conflict between the two because erotic liberty is being claimed on the basis of sexual identity and activity. Whenever there is a conflict between religious liberty and erotic liberty, we are being told that religious liberty must lose.

One example he uses is the decision to fire Atlanta’s fire chief Kelvin Cochran. He was fired because of his religious beliefs, and specifically what we wrote in a booklet used in a men’s Bible study. When a few city employees got a copy of the book, they made this an issue. The mayor of Atlanta fired him, even though Cochran has had exemplary service in the fire department.

Just days after his firing, openly homosexual columnist Frank Bruni wrote an essay with the provocative title, “Your God and My Dignity.” He argues that it is absurd for conservative Christians to claim their religious liberty is endangered. They are free to believe whatever they want within the walls of the church. Actually, he seems to contradict even that later in the essay when he laments that churches can adopt a “ministerial exception” to hiring homosexuals.

But let’s leave that aside for a moment to look at the bigger issue. Bruni argued that religious freedom generally should be restricted to “religious services or what happens in a church, temple, or mosque.” In other words, religious liberty applies to freedom of worship. Believe what you will and practice what you believe inside the church. But don’t bring those ideas into the public arena.

Al Mohler warns that the “front lines of the battle for religious liberty will be at the door of your congregation very soon.” At best, we are being told that we have “freedom of worship” within the church walls. That’s not very much. Al Mohler asks, “What about the right of religious schools to hire, admit, and house on the basis of Christian moral judgment?”

Both the actions of politicians and words of columnists show that they believe that whenever religious liberty and erotic liberty conflict, religious liberty must lose.