Intolerant Religion in a Tolerant-Liberal Democracy

by Yossi Nehushtan

Overview

This book aims to examine and critically analyse the role that religion has and should have in the public and legal sphere. The main purpose of the book is to explain why religion, on the whole, should not be tolerated in a tolerant-liberal democracy and to describe exactly how it should not be tolerated - mainly by addressing legal issues.

The main arguments of the book are, first, that as a general rule illiberal intolerance should not be tolerated; secondly, that there are meaningful, unique links between religion and intolerance, and between holding religious beliefs and holding intolerant views (and ultimately acting upon these views); and thirdly, that the religiosity of a legal claim is normally a reason, although not necessarily a prevailing one, not to accept that claim.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781509920082
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/25/2018
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.49(d)

About the Author

Yossi Nehushtan is Senior Lecturer at the School of Law, Keele University, and Co-Director of the MA in Human Rights, Globalization and Justice.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements v

1 Introduction 1

2 The Principle of Tolerance 5

I Introduction 5

II The Definition of Tolerance and the Right to be Tolerated 5

III The Components of Tolerance 9

IV Tolerance and Grudge 19

V Tolerance and Power 22

VI Conclusion 25

3 The Limits of Liberal Tolerance 27

I Introduction: Perfectionist Liberalism as a Starting Point 27

II The Limits of Tolerance: Reciprocity and Proportionality 29

III Who is the True Intolerant One? 43

IV Conclusion 53

4 A Tolerant-Liberal Democracy 54

I The Competing Political Theories 54

II The Case Against Neutrality 59

III A Pluralistic-Liberal State or a Tolerant-Liberal State? The Re-Establishment of Tolerance 62

5 The Theoretical and Empirical Links Between Religion and Intolerance 68

I Introduction 68

II The Empirical Findings 70

III The Theoretical Links Between Religion and Intolerance 93

IV Is the Go-Existence of Religion and Prejudice Paradoxical? 122

V Conclusion 123

6 Accommodating Religion by Granting Conscientious Exemptions: Is Religion Special? 127

I Accommodating Religion by Granting Conscientious Exemptions 127

II Conscientious Exemptions as an Expression of Tolerance 129

III Is Religion Special?: Five Possible Answers 137

IV Neutral Approaches 139

V 'Equal Regard' Approaches 154

VI Liberal Value-Based Approaches 167

VII Pro-Religion Approaches 177

VIII Anti-Religion Approaches 195

IX Conclusion: Is Religion Special? 197

7 Conclusion 198

I A Short Introduction to the Conclusion 198

II Why and when the Religiosity of a Claim for Accommodation or Exemption Matters 198

III And a Final Conclusion 201

IV Post-Conclusion: A Note about Religion, the Academic World and the Real World 201

Bibliography 204

Index 217