Eberle Christopher J. Religious Conviction in Liberal Politics

Cambridge University Press, 2004. — 417 p.Is it possible for a deeply religious person to be a good citizen in a liberal democracy? There is room for doubt regarding many religious believers. Why? Many religious people take themselves to be conscience bound to support coercive laws for which they have only religious reasons. But many political theorists claim that such exclusive reliance on religious reasons violates the norms of good citizenship and does so for any of a number of reasons: It grinds to a halt productive conversation on the laws to which we are subject; it injects gratuitously divisive factors in already overheated discussions; it fails to respect the autonomy and personhood of citizens who find religious reasons implausible.
Against this position regarding the proper role of religious convictions in liberal politics, Christopher Eberle argues that citizens can discharge every expectation we reasonably have of them, even if they have only a religious rationale for a favored coercive law. In making his case, Eberle articulates an ideal of citizenship that permits citizens to engage in politics without privatizing their religious commitments and yet does not license a mindless and intransigent sectarianism.
A markedly controversial book that offers a substantial challenge to political liberalism, this work will be read with particular interest by students and professionals in philosophy, political science, law, and religious studies, as well as by general readers who seek insight into the relationship between religious commitments and liberal politics.
Christopher J. Eberle is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the United States Naval Academy.