As I’ve argued before, defending religious liberty in this environment is going to require a level of discernment and an ability to engage with people who might not have much experience with faith or find it very important. Among other things, this means being able to highlight the nuances that differentiate following one’s faith in the public square from discrimination, and making clear that religious liberty isn’t just a backdoor way of fighting lost political battles over same-sex marriage.

Davis doesn’t pass either of those tests.

Even government officials should have wide latitude to recuse themselves from things they find morally problematic whenever practical. The right to a service from the government isn’t the same thing as a right to have one particular government official provide the service. But people have to be able to get what they are legally entitled to.

Opposition to the death penalty is a perfectly legitimate moral position. So is objecting to the use of force. People have the right to act in accordance with those beliefs. But a death penalty opponent doesn’t have the right to a job as an executioner, and a conscientious objector has no right to a career in the military.