Opinion ID: 2639069
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Why Religious Liberty Is Important

Text: A strong argument can be made that it was the primacy of religious liberty in the early history of this country, with its acknowledgment of the separate spheres of church and state, that gave rise to our notions of limited government and equal protection  the constitutional precursors of our antidiscrimination laws. (McConnell, Why Is Religious Liberty the First Freedom? (2000) 21 Cardozo L.Rev. 1243, 1244 [the division between temporal and spiritual authority gave rise to the most fundamental features of liberal democratic order: the idea of limited government, the idea of individual conscience and hence of individual rights, and the idea of civil society, as apart from government, bearing primary responsibility for the formation and transmission of opinions and ideas].) Our ability to create a space for religious perspectives is both instrumental and regenerative for democracy. Religious institutions enhance individual autonomy by challenging the sovereign power of the liberal state (Noonan, The End of Free Exercise? (1992) 42 De Paul L.R. 567, 579-580) and by articulating alternative visions  counter-cultural visions that challenge and push the larger community in ... directions unimagined by prevailing beliefs. (Brady, Religious Organizations and Mandatory Collective Bargaining Under Federal and State Labor Laws: Freedom From and Freedom For (2004) 49 Vill. L.Rev. 77, 156.) By protecting religious groups from gratuitous state interference, we convey broad benefits on individuals and society. By underestimating the transformative potential of religious organizations, we impoverish our political discourse and imperil the foundations of liberal democracy.