Does religion need to be protected?

I’ve been reading about the Supreme Court’s middle-of-the-night decision striking down limits on church and synagogue attendance (due to COVID and proximity to infectious people).

The ‘rationale’ that was given was that the right to religious freedom and practice outweighs the states’ rights to protect their citizens.

Why does religion need protection? Can’t it – shouldn’t it – stand on its own?

Does your belief in whatever god you choose give you the right to infect me? Is fundamentalist Christianity now a license to kill? Couldn’t a fervent Sunni muslim claim the right to set of bombs in defense of Allah?

Back to my point – if religious freedom is so important that peoples’ safety is meaningless, then where does it end? Can extremist religions kill any of us at their own whim?