The Good of Religion

This article seeks to answer the question of why the relationship between anti-discrimination principles and freedom of religion is so controversial in Western democracies today. The answer lies partly in the gradual erosion of the distinctive good of religion in the liberal democratic state. Having lost sight of the distinctive good of religion, it is a matter of course that religious freedom too will lose its place in the pantheon of political rights. Hence, when faced with the claims of anti-discrimination, claims of religious freedom seem to have lost their bearing. To regain their bearing, advocates of religious freedom have to reassert the distinctive good of religion in the liberal democratic state, not merely as a private right, but as a public and political right. However, that reassertion requires a reconstruction of the normative justification for religious freedom. The new justification must rationalise the singling out of religion and religious freedom for special protection in the secular age.