Abstract
This article examines the issues raised by religious adherents’ wish to express their beliefs in the public domain through, for example, their modes of dress, their performance of public roles, and their response to homosexuality. It considers on what grounds religion might merit special treatment and how special that treatment should be. A common approach to these issues is through the notion of religious identity, but both the idea of religious identity and its use to ground claims against others prove deeply problematic. An alternative and more productive approach is through the notion of harm. People should enjoy the freedom to express their religious convictions subject to the harm principle, but harm should include the undermining of people’s status as free and equal citizens. The article concludes by considering the grounds upon which this alternative approach might recognize religion as special and might justify giving an overriding status to civic equality.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Appiah, Kwame Anthony. 2005. The ethics of identity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Gutmann, Amy. 2003. Identity in democracy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Jones, Peter. 1999. Beliefs and identities. In Toleration, identity and difference, ed. John Horton, and Susan Mendus, 65–86. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Nagel, Thomas. 1991. Equality and impartiality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. 2009. Any of our business? Human rights and the UK private sector. London: The Stationery Office.
Plant, Raymond. 2007. Liberalism, religion and the public sphere. In Redefining Christian Britain, ed. Jane Garnett, et al., 254–266. London: SCM Press.
Rawls, John. 1993. Political liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press.
Sandel, Michael. 1982. Liberalism and the limits of justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. 1972. Le sursis. Paris: Gallimard.
Williams, Bernard. 1972. Moral luck. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Plant, R. Religion, Identity and Freedom of Expression. Res Publica 17, 7–20 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-011-9140-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-011-9140-8