More than 60 years ago, the Supreme Court changed the legal landscape by erecting a “wall of separation” between church and state. Justice Hugo Black borrowed the phrase from a letter by President Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association. The wall the court erected is the reason we have so many bad decisions from the court on religious liberty cases.

A few weeks ago another federal court erected another “wall of separation.” This one is also hostile to religious liberty. Craig Parshall is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the National Religious Broadcasters. He was on my program to talk about this new “wall of separation” between faith and free enterprise.

A federal appeals court in Philadelphia apparently forgot the rich tradition of religious liberty that was born in that city. The judges ruled that a family-owned, for-profit company does not have any rights to religious freedom. The case involved the Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp., which makes cabinets and is run by five members of the Hahn family. They are all Mennonites and oppose abortion. Like the owners of Hobby Lobby, they oppose the new federal Health and Human Services mandate that requires coverage for abortion-inducing drugs. The court ruled that neither a for-profit company nor its owners have any religious standing to object under either the First Amendment or under a religious liberty statute passed by Congress.

Craig Parshall explained that if such a ruling stands, it effectively forces Christians to choose between making a profit or having religious freedom. He also noted that this ruling is just the opposite of the ruling of another circuit court appeal that would allow Hobby Lobby to pursue its religious rights exemption.

All of this sets the stage for the Supreme Court to rule on whether the hundreds of for-profit companies have the same religious rights as non-profit companies. This is one “wall of separation” that needs to be torn down.