Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2012

Abstract

This essay concerns religious reasons: how these compare with public reasons, and their appropriate place in the politics and law of the United States. Although I focus primarily on arguments about what this place should be, sound normative answers about these questions are closely connected to certain descriptive facts and estimates about what does happen and what is possible.

I tackle three separate questions. The first is the place of religious reasons in the formation and justifications of positions about what laws should be made. The second inquiry involves the place of such reasons in judicial decisions. The third question concerns the place of accounts of religious affiliations and convictions in political campaigns. In previous work, I have addressed various aspects of the first two questions, always putting aside the elusive relation between public reasons and campaigns. As a consequence, my treatment here varies in significant ways.

Disciplines

Law | Law and Politics | Religion Law

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