(Going through my bloggage I found this draft from 3 years ago, long before Kim Davis, or the Hobby Lobby SCOTUS Ruling)

Original Draft, July 2012:

Pay attention to the strategy for religious encroachment on civil society.  It appears the religious in America have taken a page from the Republican playbook, and are following a multi-part agenda to achieve their goals.

In the case of the Norquist wing of the Rep. party, the goal is the complete defunding of government, resulting in the “privatization” of all government services, further resulting in (they presume) getting these activities out from under governmental regulatory control.

In the case of the religious, they also seek an expansion of their “private” power in areas now considered fairly regulated by government systems.  They seek to have more of their activities, even those in no way related to the practice of their religious faith, protected under the umbrella of “Free Exercise.”  At the same time they are pushing their symbols (cross, 10 commandments) into public spaces and arguing that they are not religious, merely historical reminders of our foundations. (A religious assertion if I ever heard one!)  Yet they will use the presence of these religious symbols in public spaces as bootstraps for arguing that the nation has always been Christian, and the Founding Fathers never intended to separate faith from government.

The first half of the religious tactic allows for more and more people to claim their right to free exercise is being infringed upon whenever the government regulates.  The latter allows them to use any incremental gain as leverage to the next.