If the requirements were actually reimposed, it would be a net loss in liberty. But the power behind the idea of reimposing them is grossly insignificant to do so. I'd worry first about actual situations that threaten liberty (like the current one), then about possible situations with enough force behind them to make them actual, then much less about theoretical possibilities that are very unlikely to go anywhere.
To the extent the religious right has any power, its primarily defensive power. There fighting a holding action as they slowly retreat, they don't have the power to go on the offensive. The left on the other-hand, at least periodically, does get the power to go on the offensive, like they are now.
Beyond that, if your concern is strengthening the religious right, and the argument that there is a government war against religion, I think imposing a requirement like this feeds the problem more than pushing it off does. Religious people who had been slightly skeptical about the idea of the war on religion, may buy in to it when the government takes steps to actually impose on religions (rather than just to keep religions from imposing on others). Maybe not on this one, but after a few more, this factor might empower the religious right enough to go on the offensive again. There is a good chance it won't (they have after all been mostly on the defensive for decades, perhaps generations, to an extent even for centuries) but a lot more chance then there is that winning would empower them enough to resume the offensive. |
