In the past week, courts on either side of the Atlantic have issued rulings in two cases which go to the very heart of the meaning of freedom of speech and of religion. Both rulings have elicited condemnation from many conservatives, but for different reasons. However, both cases taken together illustrate perfectly why the freedoms protected by the First Amendment are such an important part of American society. The cases also serve as a reminder that, as the abolitionist Wendell Phillips once said, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”

Here in America, the Supreme Court ruled in Snyder v. Phelps that inflammatory protests at the funerals of fallen war heroes by the rabidly anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church cannot be prohibited.  Meanwhile, Britain’s High Court has ruled in favor of a social services agency which prohibited a couple from fostering a child because of their religious views on homosexuality.  On a superficial level, the cases are centered on homosexuality, but both cases are really about freedom of speech and of religion.