Religious Liberty in a Polarized Age
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Constitutional Conversation with Thomas Berg
Religious liberty, a basic constitutional value, is now among the key issues on which many Americans are polarized politically and culturally. As Thomas Berg will argue, many conservatives have supported government discrimination and penalties against Muslims, and on the other side, many progressives have dismissed even strong religious-liberty claims by traditionalist organizations and individuals. Religious-liberty disputes trace and intensify divides over underlying issues like LGBTQ+ rights, national security, or immigration.
But religious liberty should do the opposite, as Thomas Berg will discuss in this talk (based on his forthcoming book with the same title). One of the key historical purposes of religious liberty, still relevant today, is to calm polarization—and the fear that causes it—by assuring people that they will have substantial freedom to live according to their deepest beliefs and identities.
Today, again, we need to affirm our commitment to strong religious freedom for all. We must balance this with respect for other interests and deep commitments, but religious freedom should receive strong weight. We must protect Muslims *and* conservative Christians; we must protect LGBTQ+ people *and* traditionalist religious objectors. The new Respect for Marriage Act, which provides backstop protection for same-sex marriages as well as meaningful protections for traditionalists’ religious liberty, is a hopeful, if limited, sign and potential model.
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Thomas C. Berg Thomas Berg teaches constitutional law, religious liberty, intellectual property courses, and the religious liberty appellate clinic. In the clinic he supervises students in writing and filing briefs in major religious liberty cases, drawing on his experience drafting nearly 60 briefs on issues of religious liberty and free speech in the Supreme Court and lower courts. Berg combines advocacy with scholarship as one of the nation’s leading experts on religious liberty and law and religion. He is the author of six books, including a leading casebook, Religion and the Constitution (with Michael McConnell and Christopher Lund, Wolters Kluwer), and The State and Religion in a Nutshell (West). He has written approximately 75 book chapters and journal articles and dozens of op-eds and shorter pieces on religious freedom, constitutional law, and the role of religion in law, politics and society. His work has been cited multiple times by the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeals. He is at work on a forthcoming book, Religious Liberty in a Polarized Age. |
