Choices and Allocation of Costs for Religious Preferences and Practices: Insights from an Israeli Test Case

Abstract

Internalization of costs of religious preferences fits the religious self-perception and ideology of many religious communities and is in their long-term interest. It also strengthens the external value of religious communities, norms, and institutions for the wider society. Many forces press religious communities to reduce the costs of religious preferences. Within a community, costs are reduced by limiting the available choices or shifted to its weaker members; outside the community, costs are shifted to other groups or the state. Incentives influence the allocation of costs, which in turn shape internal communal choices and the religious vitality and sustainability of the community. The allocation of costs also affects the external relations of communities. This article suggests that the allocation of costs is yet another aspect of religious and ideological communities in liberal states that deserves investigation at the constitutional, legal, and regulatory levels.