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Social equality of religion or belief protects individuals against discrimination related to their religious identity. It also requires the state to treat all religions and non-religious belief systems in a similar fashion, and to be even-handed in its treatment of religious identity, compared with other identities of gender, sexuality, race, disability or social caste.
It is clear, fair, firm and flexible in its approach, and its principles can be applied to economic, legal, political or cultural issues. It offers to promote the integration of different religious communities within a liberal framework of equality and human rights.
This book brings together a distinguished group of academics and practitioners to discuss the pros and cons of this approach, and its influence to date on a wide range of issues concerning religion's relation to the state both in Europe and in North and South America.
List of contents
Introduction: The Social Equality of Religion or Belief; Alan Carling
PART I: RELIGION, EQUALITY AND THE LAW
1. The Problem of 'Belief'; Yvonne Sherwood
2. Religious Freedom and Anti-Discrimination in Europe and the US: Generally Applicable Laws and Possible Exceptions; Iain McLean and Scot Peterson
3. The Equality Paradigm in Warner v. Boca Raton: Winnifred Sullivan and The Impossibility of Religious Freedom; Peter Gottschalk
4. Proportional Prayers: Social Equality in the Scottish Parliament?; Norman Bonney & Alan Carlin
5. Habermas and Rawls on Democracy, Reason and Faith; David West
PART II: RELIGIOUS IDENTITY AMONGST OTHERS
6. The Social Equality of Religion or Belief: A Critique; Edward Reiss
7. Muslim Identity, Psychic Detachment and Universal Rights; Rumy Hasan
8. Religion and Caste in the UK: Reflections on Hindu and Sikh Fundamentalist Mobilizations; Pragna Patel & Sukhwant Dhaliwal
9. Religion and Ethnicity: the Status of Jews in UK Law; Dan Cohn-Sherbok
PART III: SEPARATION AND ESTABLISHMENT
10. Political Liberalism, Separation and Establishment; Cécile Laborde
11. The Church of England's hold over Marriage: The Queer Case for Disestablishment; Neil Cobb
12. The 2008 Concordat in Brazil: 'Modern Public Religion' or Neo-Corporatism?; Lidyane Maria Ferreira de Souza
13. The Bloating of the Constitution: Equality and the US Establishment Clause; Marc O. DeGirolami
14. The Limits of Canada's Commitment to State Neutrality in Religious Matters; Richard Moon
About the author
Dr. Alan Carling trained in mathematics and political science, and taught social sciences at the University of Bradford, UK. His publications related to social inequality and social change include Social Division (1991), and (with Marie Macey) Ethnic, Racial and Religious Inequalities (2011). Alan is involved with a number of community initiatives in Bradford.
Summary
Some countries, like the UK, give special recognition by the state to one or a few religions; other countries, like France and the US, give recognition to none. This book is about a new approach that gives equal recognition to all religions and non-religious belief systems.
Additional text
“It is a welcome and commendable addition to the literature and theorization of the role and place of religion in the public sphere. … Carling’s introduction provides a very comprehensive survey that many will find useful … . I would certainly commend it as a useful addition to the literature … .” (Paul Hedges, Reading Religion, readingreligion.org, March, 2017)
“This edited collection originated from a set of conference presentations on the theme of ‘equality of religion or belief’ … . It is therefore a very diverse collection of papers, covering the status of a variety of religious minorities in the United Kingdom as well as issues from several other countries. … This compilation of articles and the framework established by Alan Carling are a valuable addition to the discourse on religious freedom.” (Janet Epp Buckingham, Journal of Church and State, Vol. 59 (3), 2017)
