In the never-ending uproar over U.S. President Donald Trump, his administration’s recent move to lift a ban on traditional Christian adoption agencies went relatively unremarked.

Under President Barack Obama, child-welfare agencies were refused federal grants if they wouldn’t place children for adoption with same-sex couples. Last week, the White House reversed that ruling on the grounds that such agencies would no longer be forced “to choose between helping children and their faith.”

This followed a notable speech last month at the University of Notre Dame law school by U.S. Attorney General William Barr, in which he discussed his Catholic faith and passionately denounced secular intolerance.

The Trump adoption reform was condemned by human rights campaigners as “horrific,” “unconscionable” and “discriminatory” against LGBTQ people.

Barr, whose speech provoked a furor, was accused of “toxic Christian nationalism” and of violating his oath to defend religious liberty for all Americans. Liberal Catholics said his positions were “fire and brimstone” and a “threat to American democracy” because they “demolish the wall between church and state.”

Yet the new policy on adoption undid discrimination against Christian agencies. And Barr’s speech was a plea for religious freedom against secular intolerance and a well-founded statement of the Christian roots of American culture.

The significance of all this should not be underestimated — not just for Christians, but for Jews and Western culture in general ...