Religious-Liberty-Annual-Report

36 Section VII – The Religious Liberty Forecast for 2024

protections afforded under the Religious Free dom Restoration Act. In October 2023, a federal district court struck down, on religious freedom grounds, a Colorado law that prohibited pregnan cy resource centers from offering treatments that can reverse the effect of chemical abortions. Supporters of abortion are also often hostile toward the idea that morality can be a basis for public policy. Access to abortion is often framed as “freedom from religion,” characterizing reli gion as oppressive; a familiar slogan in the abor tion debates has been “keep your rosaries off my ovaries.” 3. Gender Ideology as a Campaign Issue The topic of gender ideology will likely play a similarly prominent role in the presidential cam paign as the topic of abortion. As with abortion, support of gender ideology tends to be associated with hostility to the exercise of religious beliefs and moral convictions upholding the sexual dif ference between men and women. In the arena of messaging, those who promote affirmance of LGBT identities tend to frame their position as one of love, acceptance, and equality, while those who oppose gender ideology general ly argue that their position is foremost a matter of truth and common sense. Catholicism maintains the reciprocal relationship between both love and truth. As such, the Church and individual Cath olic faithful will be challenged to maintain this authentic voice as the two competing narratives dominate the conversation on this issue. 4. Partisanship and Division within the Church Catholics will, as much as ever, be seen as a tar To make a convincing case for religious freedom in the court of public opinion, the Church cannot function as a mere political advocacy group or a proxy for one party or another.

CNS photo/Valaurian Waller, Detroit Catholic

get demographic for partisan appeal during the 2024 election. The pressures of the election will exacerbate trends of partisan division within the Church, and the pull of party over faith. To make a convincing case for religious free dom in the court of public opinion, the Church cannot function as a mere political advocacy group or a proxy for one party or another. Yet, increasingly, some Catholics tend to regard their political affiliation as a more integral aspect of their identities than their Catholic faith. 66 The po sitions of the two political parties, and the rhet oric on liberal and conservative media outlets, often form Catholics’ opinions on matters of faith more than Church teaching. 67 The Church can not offer an effective witness to religious liberty if we are beholden more to a political party than to God and the teaching of the Church, and if our beliefs are more political than religious. This dynamic is not new, is not unique to Catholics, nor will it disappear anytime soon. But it will be especially salient in 2024, and the long term standing of the Church in the public square requires a conscious and sustained turn — away from partisanship and toward the Gospel.