It is shameful if some people were pressured into quitting their jobs after Prop 8 because of their religion. But this type of a grassroots groundswell against the Church in reaction to its efforts in California relating to Prop 8 is not the same as a government restricting the Church’s free exercise rights.

As to religion having a place in the public sphere, one advantage the United States has over a country with a very strict separation of Church and state like France is that the American polity can indeed accommodate religious expression and viewpoints better. However, no one benefits more from a strict separation of Church and state than Latter-day Saints, especially in countries that view the Church as basically a dangerous cult (like Belgium, for example). The separation of Church and state, even strictly enforced, actually also benefits the Church in the United States as well. Without it, there is nothing preventing Missouri circa 1838 from happening again, especially in situations where the Church injects itself so straightforwardly into the political process as has been the case in the Prop 8 situation. Grassroots reactions against the Church’s actions were foreseeable.

Perhaps you are speaking to others, like my brother, John, but I don’t think I actually attacked the idea that religious liberties are “under attack,” just the wisdom of mobilizing the JRCLS to fight it politically.