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Are the increasing concerns about religious freedom "in nearly every case, utterly bogus?" Are these concerns the result of privileged white men, regardless of socio-economic standing, worried about "losing automatic authority," unable to exploit others "for partisan gain," and angst ridden for fear they will "no longer be the default ruling class"? The Tribune's George Pyle believes all of this in a recent head-spinning screed ("Don't believe those who mourn the end of religious freedom in America," August 21) that would make Jeremy Bentham's auto-icon and John Stuart Mill's rotted utilitarian bones stand in applause.

The crux of progressive Pyle's ironically pious piece is that religious freedom is "alive and well" and all of the sanctimonious trepidations and fearful handwringing about religious freedom are the effect of a frenzied mind, deranged because of the authoritarian traditions of our patriarchal fathers who lead us away in a belief of things which are not so.

Religious freedom is alive and well, according to Pyle, because religious diversity, especially "no organized religion at all," is on the rise. For Pyle, choice is the core of religious freedom, especially the choice "not to follow, rather than having it chosen for [us] by peer pressure or tradition."

My friend, as Daniel Patrick Moynihan reminded us, is entitled to his own opinions, but he is not entitled to his own facts — and Pyle flings facts around with the reckless abandon of a howler monkey at Hogle Zoo. With no small hint of glee, Pyle tries to humiliate LDS Church apostle Jeffrey R. Holland for saying that a rise in secularism does not bode well for society. Pyle claims, while denying cause and effect and carelessly referencing selected statistics, Elder Holland is simply "wrong." Both context and facts suggest Elder Holland is absolutely correct.

Using Pyle's own criteria of progress, consider the level of education held by the audience Elder Holland was addressing at BYU's Campus Education Week and among Latter-day Saints generally. What is literacy among Latter-day Saints? How about their rates of infant mortality and violent crime? Of course, when it comes to sexual health I can only speak for myself (I'm good) because who in the hell knows what Pyle means by it. Whatever he means, it is clear that Latter-day Saints generally are well-educated and well-adjusted human beings (cue Tribune online trolls to accuse LDS of high porn use, anti-depressants and killing gay kids).

He does not debate the nuances of religious freedom, especially individual conscience (i.e. differentiating between a business owner who will bake a cake for a gay man but not for his gay wedding). In his secular self-righteousness, Pyle simply assumes that rational people always will prioritize "equality" over bigotry wrapped in a fiction.

What Elder Holland understands all too well that Pyle misses completely is that life is relational, not atomistic. With all due respect to Thomas Paine, human beings are not born into this world independent, morally or circumstantially. Human beings are born into families, communities, societies, economies and civilizations all with customs and traditions linked by generations. Brother George might not like that reality but denying it leads to big social problems. (Just ask Paine about his experiences with the French Revolution.)

That we have religious freedom, in its historical splendor, engraved in our Bill of Rights is meaningless and anachronistic for Pyle. So of course every ounce of human progress occurs in spite of religious freedom, a point with which the Rev. Martin Luther King might take issue.

I sense that Holland is not concerned with what non-believers think about religious freedom. His concern is what believers think about it. He was not addressing the annual convention of humanists or atheists. He was addressing 17,000 plus people of faith. In other words, without saying it directly, Holland is trying to prevent further apostasy of the faithful, not rile the faithful to suppress a few secularists. In fact, if America is in moral decline, it is because of apostasy not secularism.

From where do Pyle's "huge improvements" in equality arise? As a matter of fact, people of faith really are more accepting of sexual equality today. Growing secularism or declining faith?

There is a difference between arguing about "each person's own sense of right and wrong" and challenging the existence of right and wrong. Methinks Pyle's plaintive cry stems from the latter. The fight over religious freedom is about more than the right to worship and not be killed for it. It is about the existence of right and wrong — and that ecclesiastical reminder from Holland to the faithful is what really bugs the hell out of George Pyle.

Paul Mero is president and CEO of Next Generation Freedom Fund.