America doesn’t require politicians to abandon their faith.
But there is an enormous difference between allowing faith to inform someone’s moral worldview and granting a religious legal system governmental authority.
The Constitution protects El-Sayed’s right to follow Sharia.
The same Constitution protects another American’s right to reject Sharia, criticize Sharia, leave Islam, evangelize Muslims and proclaim beliefs Islam considers profoundly offensive.
That distinction cannot become negotiable.
And this is where Christians especially should pay attention.
Religious liberty isn’t merely the freedom to worship quietly inside a building.
It includes the freedom to preach doctrines others consider offensive, change religions, evangelize, criticize competing religious claims and refuse religious requirements one does not believe.
Once government begins protecting religious doctrines from criticism—or allowing religious law to determine another person’s civil liberties—the foundation has shifted.