The Core of Freedom: Public or Private?

Extract

As a protest, the argument of Professors Glenn and Stack is valid and important. That the realm of public debate is largely closed to those who stand explicitly on Judaic and Christian principles is an intellectual scandal. This closure, of course, is the doing not of the courts (even though it accords with attitudes quite evident in the courts) but of academicians, journalists, and various political activists who are quick to rule any appeal to religious premises, as well as any moral judgments thought to derive therefrom, such as the evil of abortion, out of order. Their ostensible justification is that public discourse must be based on premises common to all participants. Such a justification may be superficially plausible, but it is worse than dubious. It enables opponents of religion to narrow their minds without compunction and to constrict the public realm. In effect, contemporary secularists say to would-be religious interlocutors, “Yours are arguments we refuse even to face or consider.”