Religion and the Exercise of Public Authority

by Benjamin L Berger (Editor), Richard Moon (Editor)

Overview

In the burgeoning literature on law and religion, scholarly attention has tended to focus on broad questions concerning the scope of religious freedom, the nature of toleration and the meaning of secularism. An under-examined issue is how religion figures in the decisions, actions and experiences of those charged with performing public duties. This point of contact between religion and public authority has generated a range of legal and political controversies around issues such as the wearing of religious symbols by public officials, prayer at municipal government meetings, religious education and conscientious objection by public servants.

Authored by scholars from a variety of disciplines, the chapters in this volume provide insight into these and other issues. Yet the volume also provides an entry point into a deeper examination of the concepts that are often used to organise and manage religious diversity, notably state neutrality. By examining the exercise of public authority by individuals who are religiously committed – or who, in the discharge of their public responsibilities, must account for those who are – this volume exposes the assumptions about legal and political life that underlie the concept of state neutrality and reveals its limits as a governing ideal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849467155
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/16/2016
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Benjamin L Berger is an Associate Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University.
Richard Moon is a Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors ix

Introduction: Religious Neutrality and the Exercise of Public Authority Richard Moon Benjamin L Berger 1

1 The Meaning and Entailment of the Religious Neutrality of the State: The Case of Public Employees Jocelyn Maclure 11

2 Against Circumspection: Judges, Religious Symbols, and Signs of Moral Independence Benjamin L Berger 23

3 Religious Lawyering and Legal Ethics Faisal Bhabha 41

4 Managing and Imagining Religion in Canada from the Top and the Bottom: 15 Years After Paul Bramadat 61

5 God Keep Our Land: The Legal Ritual of the McKenna-McBride Royal Commission, 1913-16 Pamela E Klassen 79

6 In/Visible Religion in Public Institutions: Canadian Muslim Public Servants Amélie Barras Jennifer A Selby Lori G Beaman 95

7 The Prayer Case Saga in Canada: An 'Expert Insider' Perspective on Praying in the Political and Public Arenas Solange Lefebvre 111

8 Physicians' Rights to Conscientious Objection Bruce Ryder 127

9 Conscientious Objections by Civil Servants: The Case of Marriage Commissioners and Same-Sex Civil Marriages Richard Moon 149

10 A Freedom of Religion-Based Argument for the Regulation of Religious Schools Daniel M Weinstock 167

11 'Open House'/'Portes Ouvertes': Classrooms as Sites of Interfaith Interface Shauna Van Praagh 185

Index 203

Editorial Reviews

The work should be of interest to scholars in the fields of law, politics, and religion, but also to civil servants and other professions with a role in public life, such as lawyers, judges, doctors, and teachers. (...) this is a rich and original study of the role of religion in the public sphere.” —Reading Religion

“... a well-produced and reflective consideration of state/religion issues common to the Canadian and UK jurisdictions. The mix of disciplinary backgrounds results in something discernibly more than a wholly lawyerly treatment and is all the richer as a result. It presents an instructive counterpoint to UK concerns and cogently covers a great deal of ground. It is recommended both for its intrinsic interest and as a spur to UK reflection.” —Ecclesiastical Law Jourbanal

“...there is no doubt in the rich quality of the works published in this book. Further, the articles provide signposts as to how the law might develop in countries like Australia where the jurisprudence on several of the topics analysed in the essays is less advanced.” —Alternative Law Jourbanal

From the Publisher