Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T12:59:19.237Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Liberalism, Multiculturalism, and the Case for Public Religion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2010

Sonia Sikka
Sonia Sikka*
Affiliation:
University of Ottawa
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Sonia Sikka, Department of Philosophy, University of Ottawa, 70 Laurier Ave., Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Liberalism, as a political paradigm, is committed to maintaining a stance of neutrality toward religion(s), along with other comprehensive systems of belief. Multiculturalism is premised on the view that the political policies of internally diverse nations should respect the beliefs and practices of the various cultural, ethnic, and religious groups of which those nations are composed. Sometimes synthesized, sometimes standing in tension, these two political frameworks share a common goal of minimizing conflict while respecting diversity. Although this goal is, in principle, laudable, I argue in this article that the operation of liberal and multiculturalist forms of public reasoning inadvertently diminishes critical reflection and revision in the area of religion, with potentially dangerous consequences both for the health of religion and for social stability. Measures to counter these dangers, I propose, include a relaxation of the restrictive rules that define liberal public reason, and education about religion in schools.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , December 2010 , pp. 580 - 609
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Appiah, Anthony. 2005. The Ethics of Identity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Audi, Robert, and Wolterstoff, Nicholas. 1997. Religion in the Public Square: The Place of Religious Convictions in Political Debate. New York, NY: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Barry, Brian. 2001. Culture and Equality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
B.C. Human Rights Tribunal. 2007. “B.C. Human Rights Decisions.” http://www.bchrt.gov.bc.ca/decisions (Accessed May 14, 2010).Google Scholar
Benhabib, Seyla. 1990. The Claims of Culture: Equality and Diversity in the Global Era. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Bhabba, Homi. 1994. The Location of Culture. London, UK: Routledge.Google Scholar
Bhargava, Rajeev, ed. 1998. Secularism and its Critics. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Buckingham, Janet Epp. 2004. “Gay Based Curriculim Already in Some Schools.” http://www.christianity.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=3013&srcid=2510 (Accessed April 27, 2010).Google Scholar
Canadian Legal Information Institute. 2002. “Database.” http://www.canlii.ca (Accessed May 14, 2010).Google Scholar
Carens, Joseph, and Williams, Melissa. 1998. “Muslim Minorities in Liberal Democracies: The Politics of Misrecognition.” In Secularism and its Critics, ed. Bhargava, Rejeev. Oxford, UK; Oxford University Press, 137–176.Google Scholar
Carter, Stephen. 1993. The Culture of Disbelief: How American Law and Politics Trivialize Religious Devotion. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Carpay, John. 2009. “Quebec's parents have lost the freedom to choose religious education.”http://www.globecampus.ca/in-the-news/article/quebecs-parents-have-lost-the-freedom-to-choose-religious-education (Accessed April 27, 2010).Google Scholar
Christian Rights Ministries. 1995. “Database.” http://www.christianrights.org (Accessed May 14, 2010).Google Scholar
Concerned Christians Canada. 2008. “Praying, Acting, Making a Difference!” http://www.concernedchristians.ca (Accessed June 21, 2008).Google Scholar
Dacy, Austen. 2008. The Secular Conscience: Why Belief Belongs in Public Life. New York, NY: Prometheus Books.Google Scholar
Eisenstein, Marie A. 2008. Religion and the Politics of Tolerance: How Christianity Builds Democracy. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press.Google Scholar
Fateh, Tarek. 2005. “Some Muslims are Supportive of Same-Sex Marriage.” http://www.muslimcanadiancongress.org/article2005.html (Accessed April 28, 2010).Google Scholar
Gosgnach, Tony. 2001. “Religious Freedom on Trial.” http://www.theinterim.com/2001/sept/01religiousfree.html (Accessed June 21, 2008).Google Scholar
Gouvernement du Québec. 2005. “Establishment of an ethics and religious culture program: Providing future direction for all Québec youth,” http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/lancement/Prog_ethique_cult_reli/prog_ethique_cult_reli_a.pdf (Accessed April 27, 2010).Google Scholar
Greenawalt, Kent. 2005. Does God Belong in Public Schools? Princeton, NY: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Greenawalt, Kent. 1995. Private Consciences and Public Reasons. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gutmann, Amy. 2000. “Religion and State in the United States: A Defense of Two-Way.” In Obligations of Citizenship and Demands of Faith, ed. Rosenblum, Nancy, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 127–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, v. Durham Catholic District School Board. 2005. CanLII 23121 (ON S.C.).Google Scholar
Hall, Stuart. 1992. “The Question of Cultural Identity.” In Modernity and Its Futures, eds. Hall, S., and McGrew, T.. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 273–326.Google Scholar
Heclo, Hugh, and McClay, Michael M., eds. 2003. Religion Returns to the Public Square: Faith and Policy in America. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedges, Chris. 2006. American Fascists. New York, NY: Free Press.Google Scholar
Jones, Robert P. 2008. Progressive & Religious: How Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist Leaders are Moving beyond the Culture Wars and Transforming American Life. Lanham, UK: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Kempling, Chris. 2005. “Religious Freedom in Canada.” http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/persecution/pch0080.html (Accessed April 27, 2010).Google Scholar
Kenny, Michael. 2004. The Politics of Identity: Liberal Political Theory and the Dilemmas of Difference. Malden, MA: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Kompridis, Nikolas. 2005. “Normatizing Hybridity/Neutralizing Culture.” Political Theory 33:318–343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kymlicka, Will. 1989. Liberalism, Community and Culture. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Kymlicka, Will, and Norman, Wayne. 2000. Citizenship in Diverse Societies. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Modood, Tariq. 2000. “Anti-Essentialism, Multiculturalism, and the ‘Recognition’ Of Religious Groups.” Journal of Political Philosophy 6:378–399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Multani, v. Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys. 2006. 1 S.C.R. 256, 2006 SCC 6.Google Scholar
Neuhaus, Richard John. 1984. The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eeerdmans Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Nussbaum, Martha. 2007. The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence, and India's Future. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parekh, Bhikhu. 2006. Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory. New York, NY: Palgrave.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pantham, Thomas. 1997. “Indian Secularism and its Critics: Some Reflections.” The Review of Politics 59:523–540.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pottenger, John R. 2007. Reaping the Whirlwind: Liberal Democracy and the Religious Axis. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quinn, Philip L. 1997. “Political Liberalisms and their Exclusions of the Religious.” In Religion and Contemporary Liberalism, ed. Weithman, Paul. Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame Press. 138–161.Google Scholar
Rawls, John. 1993. Political Liberalism. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Raz, Joseph. 1994. Ethics in the Public Domain: Essays in the Morality of Law and Politics. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Raz, Joseph. 1990. “Facing Diversity: The Case of Epistemic Abstinence.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 19:3–46.Google Scholar
Rosenblum, Nancy, ed. 2000. Obligations of Citizenship and Demands of Faith: Religious Accommodation in Pluralist Democracies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sandel, Michael. 2006. “Response to Nagel in ‘The Case for Liberalism: An Exchange,’” New York Review of Books, October 5, 56–57.Google Scholar
Sandel, Michael. 2005. “Political Liberalism.” In Public Philosophy: Essays on Morality in Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 211–247.Google Scholar
Schleifer, Michael. 2009. “Quebec's ethics and religion course is worth defending.”http://www.montrealgazette.com/Life/Quebec+ethics+religion+course+worth+defending/1607566/story.html (Accessed June 6, 2009).Google Scholar
Sears, Alan, and Osten, Craig. 2003. The Homosexual Agenda. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman.Google Scholar
Smyth and Chymshyn v. Knights of Coloumbus. 2005. BCHRT 644.Google Scholar
Stout, Jeffrey. 2004. Democracy and Tradition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Supreme Court of Canada. 2000. “Judgments of the Supreme Court of Canada.” http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en (Accessed May 14, 2010).Google Scholar
Sweetman, Brendan. 2006. Why Politics Needs Religion: The Palce of Religious Arguments in the Public Square. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.Google Scholar
Taylor, Charles. 1998. “Modes of Seculararism.” In Secularism and its Critics, ed. Bhargava, Rejeev. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 31–53.Google Scholar
Thiemann, Ronald. 1998. Religion in Public Life: A Dilemma for Democracy. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Tomasi, John. 2001. Liberalism beyond Justice: Citizens, Society, and the Boundaries of Political Theory. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trigg, Roger. 2007. Religion in Public Life: Must Faith be Privatized? Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Vriend, v. Alberta. 1998. 1 S.C.R. 493.Google Scholar
Waldron, Jeremy. 2000. “Cultural Identity and Civic Responsibility.” In Citizenship in Diverse Societies, eds. Kymlicka, Will, and Norman, Wayne. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 155–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallis, Jim. 2008. The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith in a Post-Religious Right America. New York, NY: Harper Collins.Google Scholar
Weithman, Paul J., ed. 1997. Religion and Contemporary Liberalism. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Wolfe, Alan. 2000. “Civil Religion Revisited: Quiet Faith in Middle-Class America.” In Obligations of Citizenship and Demands of Faith: Religious Accommodation in Pluralist Democracies, ed. Rosenblum, Namcy L.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 32–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolsterstoff, Nicholas. 1997. “Why We Should Reject What Liberalism Tells Us about Speaking and Acting in Public for Religious Reasons.” In Religion and Contemporary Liberalism, ed. Weithman, Paul. Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame Press. 162–181.Google Scholar
Williams, Melissa. 1998. Voice, Trust and Memory: Marginalized Groups and the Failings of Liberal Representation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar