Religious freedom is under attack in the United States, according to Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito.
"For most of my life, American people have been united in their strong respect for religious liberty. But recently, things have started to change," Alito said Wednesday in a commencement address at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Pennsylvania, according to NewsWorks, a Delaware Valley radio station website.
"The idea that speech can be banned if it expresses an idea that is offensive is spreading around the country," Alito said in the address.
Christians who have traditional moral values now experience "hostility" for their beliefs, Alito added.
The high court justice also called on Americans to pay attention to Christians being persecuted around the world. "There are more martyrs today than ever. We in the United States need to pay more attention to what is happening to our sisters and brothers in other parts of the world."
In his speech, the justice quoted from his dissent in Obergefell vs. Hodges, the Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage, the NewsWorks report said.
"I assume that those who cling to old beliefs will be able to whisper their thoughts in the recesses of their homes, but if they repeat those views in public, they will risk being labeled as bigots and treated as such by governments, employers, and schools."
Supreme Court rules barred any recordings of the event, according to CBS Philadelphia.
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