Secular StudiesPub Date : 2019-05-08DOI: 10.1163/25892525-00101009
S. White
{"title":"Justice in Exemptions","authors":"S. White","doi":"10.1163/25892525-00101009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/25892525-00101009","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 When (if ever) does justice require that individuals have exemptions from general laws on grounds relating to religion? In Liberalism’s Religion, Cécile Laborde argues that the focus ought not to be ‘religion’ but ‘integrity’, an interest shared by religious and non-religious people. Integrity-protecting commitments (IPC s) include commitments expressive of the individual’s sense of what they are obligated to do (‘obligation-IPC s’) and commitments that, while not a matter of obligation, are nevertheless crucial to the individual’s identity (‘identity-IPC s’). Laborde argues that justice permits and requires exemptions from general laws so as to secure these commitments and, thereby, the individual’s underlying interest in integrity. This paper considers whether there is a class of integrity-related commitments which Laborde's approach fails to accommodate - a class of commitments related to ideals of ‘self-transcendence’.","PeriodicalId":29677,"journal":{"name":"Secular Studies","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90190035","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Secular StudiesPub Date : 2019-05-08DOI: 10.1163/25892525-00101002
J. Fox
{"title":"How Secular Are Western Governments’ Religion Policies?","authors":"J. Fox","doi":"10.1163/25892525-00101002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/25892525-00101002","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This study examines government religion policy in 26 Western democracies between 1990 and 2014 using the Religion and State round 3 (RAS3) dataset to determine whether these policies can be considered secular. While many assume that the West and its governments are secular and becoming more secular, the results contradict this assumption. All Western governments support religion in some manner, including financial support. All but Canada restrict the religious practices and/or religious institutions of religious minorities. All but Andorra and Italy restrict or regulate the majority religion. In addition religious both governmental and societal discrimination against religious minorities increased significantly between 1990 and 2014. All of this indicates religion remains a prominent factor in politics and society in the West.","PeriodicalId":29677,"journal":{"name":"Secular Studies","volume":"65 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2019-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78709327","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}