Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway joined several other journalists and thinkers for a discussion about religious liberty and marriage at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday.
Hemingway was joined by Townhall’s Guy Benson, The Heritage Foundation’s Ryan T. Anderson, and the Cato Institute’s Ilya Shapiro on CPAC’s main stage to talk about how religious liberties have been affected by the Supreme Court’s decision on Obgerfell v. Hodges.
Hemingway emphasized that toleration between those who support same-sex marriage and those who oppose it is the key to preserving religious liberty — which is a major point of agreement between the two groups.
Hemingway explained that since the Court’s ruling, the liberties of private citizens — like bakers, county clerks, and florists — have come under attack.
Citing a family who was fined for refusing to host a same-sex wedding on their property, she explained that forcibly imposing same-sex marriage threatens religious freedom. Conservatives should work together to fight for these freedoms, even if they disagree on the issue of marriage, she said.
“A state that’s powerful enough to tell this woman who she has to have in her home is powerful enough tell you who to have in your home,” Hemingway said (emphasis added).
Toleration assumes disagreement, she said. It’s okay to disagree with one another, but how we manage that disagreement to fight for religious freedom is extremely important.