Religion as Liberal Politics

US and UK courts define religion as a belief system dealing with existential concerns, which is separable from politics, and need not be theistic. Where does this concept of religion come from? Some scholars trace it to the advent of the Protestant Reformation when religion became a matter of compet...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Adenitire, John ca. 20./21. Jh. (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
Vérifier la disponibilité: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Publié: 2024
Dans: Journal of law and religion
Année: 2024, Volume: 39, Numéro: 2, Pages: 151-172
Sujets non-standardisés:B Définition
B Religion
B Protestantism
B Religious Freedom
B Liberalism
Accès en ligne: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Description
Résumé:US and UK courts define religion as a belief system dealing with existential concerns, which is separable from politics, and need not be theistic. Where does this concept of religion come from? Some scholars trace it to the advent of the Protestant Reformation when religion became a matter of competing theological propositions. My analysis of both John Calvin and Roger Williams shows that those Protestant thinkers emphasized the view that religion is essentially a belief system. However, Protestantism cannot explain all of the features of the US and UK concept of religion. It is because of the liberal belief in individual rights and in popular sovereignty that early liberals like Roger Williams and contemporary courts embrace the separability of religion from politics. These courts also reject the view that religion is necessarily theistic given their liberal commitment to treating citizens that subscribe to certain non-theistic ideologies as equal citizens to citizens with theistic ideologies.
ISSN:2163-3088
Contient:Enthalten in: Journal of law and religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/jlr.2024.7