>>"Religious liberty," especially in the context of the American founders, is the freedom to practice your faith privately in whatever manner you wish<< That's

>>"Religious liberty," especially in the context of the American founders, is the freedom to practice your faith privately in whatever manner you wish<< That's a common viewpoint today, but there's nothing in the 1A about _private_ exercise of religion. The public exercise of religion is very much what is protected though there are limits when it affects others or infringes on other laws (e.g., bigamy, etc.) Tax breaks and other marriage incentives have a legitimate function in domestic policy (e.g., it's very much in the state's interest to encourage two-parent families for raising the next generation of productive citizens). While those reasons are not always entirely uncontroversial, it's unfortunate that they are sometimes swept up into the debate around "getting government out of the marriage business."