Freedom of Religion and the Secular State E-Book

Russell Blackford

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Serie: Blackwell Public Philosophy Series
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 464

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Exploring the relationship between religion and the state Focusing on the intersection of religion, law, and politics in contemporary liberal democracies, Blackford considers the concept of the secular state, revising and updating enlightenment views for the present day. Freedom of Religion and the Secular State offers a comprehensive analysis, with a global focus, of the subject of religious freedom from a legal as well as historical and philosophical viewpoint. It makes an original contribution to current debates about freedom of religion, and addresses a whole range of hot-button issues that involve the relationship between religion and the state, including the teaching of evolution in schools, what to do about the burqa, and so on.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Blackwell Public Philosophy

Title page

Copyright page

Dedication

1 Motivation and Overview

Introduction

Liberal Democracies

What is Religion, Anyway?

Religion in the Courts: The Scientology Case

Religion and its Conflicts

The Plan

Conclusion

2 A Short History of Religious Intolerance

Introduction

Pagans and Monotheists, Tolerance and Persecution

The Record of Christianity

Reformation and Wars of Religion

Conclusion

3 Hobbes, Locke, and their Legacy: Models of the Modern State

Introduction

The Hobbesian Analysis

Locke’s Alternative

Arguments for the Lockean Model

Implications

Legacy

Conclusion

4 Religious Impositions and Endorsements

Introduction

Religious Establishment

Religious Endorsement

Religious Endorsements in Education

Conclusion

5 Religion-Based Morality and the Secular State

Introduction

From Secularism to Liberalism

Personal Freedom and the Harm Principle

Objections

Perry’s Arguments

Justiciability

Humanitarian Catastrophe

Conclusion

6 Persecution, Accommodation, and Conscientious Objection

Introduction

Laws of General Application

Religious Persecutions

Religion, the Individual, and the Modern State

Accommodation of Religion

Barry’s Fork

Considering Exemptions

Conscientious Objection

Services Required by the State

Conclusion

7 Private Power, Religious Communities, and the State

Introduction

Private Power and the Secular State

Anti-Discrimination Law, Religion, and the Workplace

Religious Employers and Associations

How Free is Free Association?

Policy Implications

The Marriage Business

The Battle of the Burqa

Religious Communities and the Angst about Islam

Conclusion

8 Religious Freedom and the Interests of Children

Introduction

Parental Rights and the Lockean Model

Indoctrination and Punishment

Health and Medical Issues

Education

The Evolution Debate

Educational Accommodations

Conclusion

9 Religious Freedom and Freedom of Speech

Introduction

The Rationale for Freedom of Speech

The Limits of Freedom of Speech

Proselytism

Blasphemy

Blasphemy and Islam

Racism and Islamophobia

The Limits Reconsidered

Conclusion

10 Back to Locke: Concluding Remarks

Index

Blackwell Public Philosophy

Blackwell Public Philosophy

Edited by Michael Boylan, Marymount University

In a world of 24-hour news cycles and increasingly specialized knowledge, the Blackwell Public Philosophy series takes seriously the idea that there is a need and demand for engaging and thoughtful discussion of topics of broad public importance. Philosophy itself is historically grounded in the public square, bringing people together to try to understand the various issues that shape their lives and give them meaning. This “love of wisdom” – the essence of philosophy – lies at the heart of the series. Written in an accessible, jargon-free manner by internationally renowned authors, each book is an invitation to the world beyond newsflashes and soundbites and into public wisdom.

1. Permission to Steal: Revealing the Roots of Corporate Scandal by Lisa H. Newton

2. Doubting Darwin? Creationist Designs on Evolution by Sahotra Sarkar

3. The Extinction of Desire: A Tale of Enlightenment by Michael Boylan

4. Torture and the Ticking Bomb by Bob Brecher

5. In Defense of Dolphins: The New Moral Frontier by Thomas I. White

6. Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism: Ethics and Liberal Democracy by Seumas Miller

7. Who Owns You? The Corporate Gold Rush to Patent Your Genes by David Koepsell

8. Animalkind: What We Owe to Animals by Jean Kazez

9. In the Name of God: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Ethics and Violence by John Teehan

10. The Secular Outlook: In Defense of Moral and Political Secularism by Paul Cliteur

11. Freedom of Religion and the Secular State by Russell Blackford

Forthcoming

Evil On-Line: Explorations of Evil and Wickedness on the Web by Dean Cocking and Jeroen van den Hoven

This edition first published 2012

© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Blackford, Russell, 1954–

 Freedom of religion and the secular state / Russell Blackford.

p. cm. – (Blackwell public philosophy ; 11)

 Includes index.

 ISBN 978-0-470-65886-4 (hardcover : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-470-67403-1 (pbk : alk. paper)

 1. Freedom of religion. 2. Religion and state. I. Title.

 BL640.B63 2011

 201'.723–dc23

2011024992

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This book is published in the following electronic formats: ePDFs ISBN 9781118153291; Wiley Online Library ISBN 9781118153321; ePub ISBN 9781118153307; Mobi ISBN 9781118153314

Dedicated to freedom, reason, and tolerance … and to all who labor on their behalf

Introduction

Religious freedom is not just one liberal freedom among others. As Rex Ahdar and Ian Leigh remind us, it is the prototypical liberal freedom, a cornerstone of modern political rights.1 At the same time, however, its nature is disputed. Exactly when should we say that people possess religious freedom? When should we say that the freedom has been denied? Importantly, how does it relate to modern notions of secularism – and to other key freedoms such as freedom of speech?

Each day, we see passionate struggles over the concept. Patients refuse life-saving medical care – for themselves or their children – and invoke religious freedom in their defense. If a sick child dies after her parents deny her standard treatment, should the parents be criminally liable? Rival litigants strive to keep evolutionary biology out of the high-school science curriculum, or try to make sure it is taught. Strangely enough, both sides to this dispute invoke freedom of religion. Heated debates take place over concepts of blasphemy, over female dress, over religious displays on public land, over laws that enforce religious moralities. Churches seek exemptions from urban planning codes, claiming a freedom that others construe as religious privilege. Indeed, the very same churches and communities that claim to be marginalized can be seen by others as powerful and oppressive.

If religious teachings encounter severe criticism, or religious leaders receive scorn or mockery from their opponents, is that an exercise or a violation of religious freedom? What if a government tries to disarm a violence-prone apocalyptic sect? Is this a legitimate activity to protect citizens from harm, or an illegitimate encroachment on religious exercise? What if a government agency or a private corporation prevents its employees from wearing turbans on the job – or burqas, or yarmulkes, or conspicuous crosses? In all these situations, both sides of the debate may claim that they favor “true” religious freedom. Neither side will admit to being opposed to freedom of religion, but surely both cannot be right. Religious freedom can’t be all things to everybody, yet quite opposed policies are often pursued in its name.

In what follows, I consider religious freedom in historical and philosophical perspective. Somewhere at the core of the concept lies the fear of overweening government power, used to impose a favored understanding of the world – or another, transcendent, world – or to persecute those with a different understanding. As John Locke complained in the seventeenth century, the secular sword of government has been wielded to destroy unwanted doctrines, faiths, and sects. As Locke knew well, many heretics have been imprisoned, tortured, and often burned at the stake.

Historically, disagreement with the state’s preferred religion has often been met with ruthless force. As we look back, we see that this was sometimes successful; other times, it proved to be futile. Inevitably, it brought human costs, and in many times and places these were on a grand scale, as with the thirteenth-century Albigensian Crusade, in which hundreds of thousands of people died, many of them openly massacred. Even this was dwarfed by the European wars of religion in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. For the sake of one or another religious orthodoxy, men (and sometimes women) have been driven to terrible acts of destruction and cruelty.