Religious leaders cast doubt on Hillary Clinton's claims of being a defender of religious liberty

Religious leaders chimed in to cast doubts and reject claims made by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who portrayed herself as a defender of religious freedom.

Prof. Thomas Farr of Georgetown University rejected the idea and said that those who believed Clinton's claims of defending the religious liberties of Catholic schools, refugee services, adoption agencies, homes for the aged poor and other private organizations are "making a mistake."

"Her own words suggest that even churches will not evade her understanding of the kind of 'compelling government interest' that she considers abortion and same-sex marriage to be," Farr told Catholic News Service.

The former Secretary of State wrote an op-ed Aug. 10 for Utah's Mormon newspaper Deseret News where she claimed to place religious liberty in high esteem as she's defended it for years. She mentioned championing the rights of religious minorities such as Egypt's Coptic Christians, Tibet's Buddhists, and Chinese Christians.

Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.org, noted that Clinton's policies counter religious liberties and that they tended towards the extreme end.

"She publicly opposes the long understood definition of religious freedom by hiding behind the euphemism of 'freedom of worship'," Burch said, picking on Clinton's own words.

He continued, "What this means is she supports the freedom of Catholics to pray inside of our churches, at least for now. But once outside we must embrace the orthodoxy of secular anti-Catholic progressives."

Farr also recalled that the pro-life presidential candidate once said that religious beliefs need to be changed to accommodate women's abortion rights.

The New York Times best-selling writer Eric Metaxas spoke out first against Clinton when he appeared on Fox News the next day Clinton's op-ed went out. Metaxas condemned Clinton as the very enemy of what she claims to be fighting for.

Metaxas said Clinton's claims "stunned" him as he considered them a cynical joke. The author of "If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty" added that Clinton made it her goal to "work with progressives against those kind of people."