By Thomas Farr.

But first a note from Robert Royal: Longtime advocate for religious freedom around the world, Tom Farr, reminds us today of something we shouldn't need reminding of: our first freedom. One of the greatest challenges facing us today is the way that many have tried to paint that fundamental liberty - and the things that flow from it like parental rights, the right to life, the traditional family, and much more - as an excuse for bigotry and hate. Defending such things is one reason why The Catholic Thing has been here all these years. We're going to be in the midst of many tussles next year trying to fix the many recent departures from our central political and religious traditions. Are you interested in being part of that effort? If so, please, act today. Do your part to help us return to our great tradition of faith and reason.

Now for today's column...

God created all of us in His image and likeness. Each of us, therefore, has a dignity that no one, and especially no government, may violate. God wants us to follow Him, but He endows us with free will. He does not coerce. He beckons. No just government, may coerce anyone in matters of religion.

Fortunately, the Founders of America agreed. They believed in a God who not only creates us equal, but endows all of us with certain natural rights that must be protected by government. And for them, the first of those rights was religious freedom. They guaranteed this right in the First Amendment and called it the "free exercise of religion." For two centuries it was known as America's "first freedom."

It's difficult to overstate the importance of the first freedom for our nation, and the world. The Founders' way of dealing with religion and religious freedom was not only unprecedented, but a turning point in the recognition of human dignity for all mankind.

No other nation, before or since, has ever protected the right of religious liberty for all of its citizens. No other nation has justified its commitment to religious freedom in a way that applies to every human being - an inalienable right given by God, not the state. No other society has ever revered religious freedom as the first freedom, the one on whose shoulders all other freedoms stand.

Unfortunately, in today's America, religious freedom is no longer taught in our schools or valued in our cultural institutions. It's often scorned and repudiated. The vile scourge of anti-Semitism is rampant on American campuses. We are in trouble.

Of course, the protection of religious freedom in America has never been perfect. But it has yielded extraordinary benefits. Here are just four brief examples, that were welcomed by most Americans as major contributions to our nation. . .until recently.

First, until recently, religious freedom was understood as having produced the most compassionate faith-based civil society in history, in which thousands of religious organizations provide loving care for people in need: abandoned children, the poor, the sick, the aged, the dying, and the victims of natural disasters.

Samaritan's Purse, the Little Sisters of the Poor, and countless other religious organizations work tirelessly to care for others. Today such groups are increasingly reviled. And they are sued over and over again. Why? Because they are morally traditional and their love of God inspires them to obey Him, rather than Caesar.

Second, until recently, religious freedom protected the rights of traditional believers who refuse to abandon the truth about human nature - that males and females are beautifully different and complementary, that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, that the unborn child is a human being, and that parents, not the state, have natural authority over their children.

Today, such views are excoriated in politics, schools, and businesses. Pro-lifers are imprisoned. Parents are denied by law knowledge of their child's intent to have an abortion or to change their sex. Those who believe in tr...