OPINION | Distorting religious freedom poses a great danger to the United States.

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Editor's Note: Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons is a member of the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at the United States Center for Progress. Follow him on Twitter at: @GuthrieGF. The opinions expressed here are those of the author. See more opinions at CNNE.com/opinion

(CNN) -On the same day that President Donald Trump confirmed that Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary tested positive for the new coronavirus, Pence traveled to Iowa and signaled to religious leaders that they should reopen places of worship. He falsely claimed that "for the majority of healthy Americans, the risks posed by coronavirus remain very low" and thanked religious leaders for "(stepping) forward in the exercise of their faith." In addition, CNN reported the day before that the Trump administration will not implement any of the guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). on the reopening, in part, due to an alleged concern for "religious freedom," by imposing restrictions on churches. Once again, the administration is trying to unfold the banner of what it could describe as religious freedom, this time as a front for a premature push to reopen the economy.

"The freedoms enshrined in the Constitution still apply to all Americans, even in the midst of a national emergency," Pence said on a conservative radio show last week, referring to a Virginia religious freedom lawsuit that defies the order. of confinement imposed by that state. "President Trump and our entire administration have defended religious freedom."

From a broader perspective, the covid-19 crisis also reveals a new dimension of how some conservatives have distorted our valuable American value of religious freedom.

• LOOK: Coronavirus: Bishop who continued to perform religious services in Virginia dies

The virus does not discriminate if we are gathered in a place of worship or in any other type of meeting. State and local governments are within their constitutional authority to include places of worship in their prohibitions on gathering of people. However, at least 20 states instituted some form of religious exemption to their public health orders on covid-19. In addition to Virginia's lawsuit, there have been at least a dozen more claims in states such as Florida, Mississippi, Kansas, Virginia, California, and Texas. Now the administration's push to reopen has been coupled with an argument for religious freedom. This occurs when many religious communities continue to care for one another for the common good, adapting to these difficult circumstances.

Religious freedom is not a license to spread the coronavirus, and this is not the first time that it has been used to pursue a conservative agenda. For years, conservatives have tried to use religious freedom as an argument to deny women reproductive health care or to discriminate against LGBTQ people. According to a surveillance report, legal advocacy groups that argue that the cases challenging orders to stay home on religious grounds are the same cases that have waged a so-called religious freedom war against the LGBTQ community.

This effort to redefine religious freedom is extremely well funded. For example, I took only three of the groups that, according to the same surveillance report, are involved in the religious liberty litigation against covid-19. In their 2018 IRS tax returns, the Alliance Defending Freedom (which argued Masterpiece Cakeshop's anti-LGBTQ case in the Supreme Court) reported spending more than $ 54 million; First Liberty Institute reported more than $ 9 million; and the Becket Fund for Religious Freedom (involved in the Hobby Lobby contraception case) reported more than $ 6 million.

Last week, the US Supreme Court. USA He heard arguments about whether an employer's religious or moral beliefs should be an acceptable excuse for denying people's birth control. During its next term, the Court will consider a case to determine if taxpayer funds can be used for faith-based foster care agencies that discriminate against LGBTQ people.

The efforts of these alleged religious freedom warriors do not reflect the views of most American religious. According to the Public Religion Research Institute, the majority of all American religious groups oppose religious exemptions from coronavirus public health orders, support employer-provided health care coverage to include contraception option without cost, and are opposed to allowing federally supported adoption agencies to exclude gay and lesbian couples from being considered parents.

• MORE: Two religious leaders died of coronavirus mourning their communities in New York

The reason his agenda is not aligned with that of so many other American religious exposes the truth: It is not about religious freedom. It is about taking control in a culture war and stoking anti-scientific and anti-government sentiment among the conservative base. There are real threats to religious freedom in our nation, such as the Trump administration's Muslim travel ban. But, as the Washington Post reported, "When Muslims are the target, prominent advocates of religious freedom are largely silent."

The fight for religious freedom hits especially close to my home in the state of Kentucky. Our Governor Andy Beshear received national praise for his handling of the pandemic. However, that has not stopped so-called religious freedom warriors from taking him to court to challenge his ban on large religious gatherings. Two federal judges had previously found in Beshear's favor, but a third judge lifted the ban Saturday on the pretext of defending "the right of every American to follow his conscience on matters related to religion."

"Governments have a duty to educate the public on how to stay safe during this crisis and they can do so absolutely without dictating to people how they should worship God," Roger Severino, director of the Department of the Office of the Department of the Health and Human Services Civil rights. Meanwhile, his office is leading efforts by the Trump administration to deny LGBTQ women and people health care in the name of "religious freedom." It is all part of the same agenda.

The screen of "religious freedom" over fanaticism and conservative self-interest is very thin. True religious freedom is a founding principle of our nation, and those of us who believe in it must make as great an effort as the Conservatives. May the dangerous attempt, which will no doubt result in further spread of the coronavirus, be unsuccessful, and instead encourage a renewed effort to claim that religious freedom does not hurt anyone

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