Supreme Court Ruling A Victory For Religious Freedom

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - In a highly publicized case, the Supreme Court ruled that Missouri could not discriminate against Trinity Lutheran Church in denying them a grant to repave their playground, despite the state's constitution calling for a strict separation of church and state.

David Cortman, from the Alliance Defending Freedom and who argued on behalf of Trinity Lutheran Church before the Supreme Court, spoke with Chris Stigall on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, saying that the government's action in this case clearly overstepped their authority.

"If you are funding recycled tires, not only to clean up the environment, but to protect children, what's the difference in the type of playground the children are playing on? They're going to get just as hurt on a playground operated by a secular organization or a religious organization, it's really not relevant. What's happening here is the government is reaching in and saying if you don't act a certain way and if you don't speak a certain a way, because you're doing according to religious beliefs, we're going to take the strong arm of the law and we're going to punish you because of that."

He believes the federal authorities have amassed too large a roll in the day-to-day live of how citizens conduct their business.

"The problem becomes when the government gets involved in every decision. The administrative state has been growing beyond leaps and bounds. It's its own animal. The government is just certainly too big. What happens is, there are certain protections, obviously, that should be in place, but I think when it goes too far and starts dictating exactly what people say, what they participate in."

Carrie Severino, from the Judicial Crisis Network, told Stigall she was pleased with the ruling and the implications for religious liberty.

"Religious freedom is actually a bipartisan, across-the-board issue and I think that's great. This is something, again, that used to be a very bipartisan thing...Today, unfortunately, that's not something that a lot of Democrats can get behind but I'm glad to see have some of these classical liberals on the Supreme Court. I might not agree with all of their decisions, but I think Kagan and Breyer were absolutely right here. Really, the shocking thing is, we have two Justices of the Supreme Court who think that's not the right answer, who think you can exclude an organization from a publicly available state benefit just because they're religious. That's discouraging, but I think, overall, the message is a very solid one."

She was also encouraged that the Court will hear the case of a baker who was sued after he refused to bake a cake for a gay wedding and hopes to see a ruling similar to this case.

"It was interesting to see the Court took that case. I think it's a issue that's going to come up eventually because you see people all across the country who are losing their livelihood over some of these culture war battles. It's a shame we can't live and let live. I do think it's encouraging the Court still respects religious freedom. I hope that that means they'll apply those same religious freedom principles across the board...In a country with the rule of law, we have to realize religious freedom applies for religions you like, for religions you don't like, that's why it's an important value."