Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 89
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN THE DOCK
It is no accident that this ideology has come into conflict
with Christianity. It is not simply that they are competitors in a
struggle to shape America's values or that liberal egalitarianism
rejects Christian sexual morality. Rather, it is that contemporary
liberal egalitarianism rejects as both wrong and immoral the
very idea-characteristic not just of Christianity but of "'strong
religion' generally"-that "some people's deeply held beliefs are
true while others are false," that "some people are saved and others are not," and that "some ways of living are acceptable to God
while others are abhorrent." Indeed, given contemporary liberal
egalitarianism's "commitment to 'equal respect' for all persons"
and for all conceptions of the human good, Christianity and "traditional religion" in general are in "their very essence . . . a scandal
and offense" to its "whole ethos" (153).
Contemporary liberal egalitarianism, furthermore, seeks to do
nothing less than establish itself as our "new national orthodoxy
with features reminiscent of those that characterized state supported orthodoxies during the centuries of Christendom" (142).
Like those earlier state establishments-but animated, of course,
by a very different worldview-contemporary liberal egalitarianism not only attempts to establish a privileged position in both law
and culture for its ethos, but "is not content [merely] to regulate
outward conduct," seeking instead "to penetrate into hearts and
minds," to shape the beliefs and values of the citizenry. Indeed, like
those earlier establishments, it believes that "government should
act on and impose a favored orthodoxy" (154). Secular egalitarianism's ascendancy thus poses a fundamental threat to the freedom of Christians and other traditionally minded believers.
Indeed, this ascendancy means that "we may be living in the
last chapter of the story of American (and Western, and indeed
89
Modern Age - Winter 2016
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Modern Age - Winter 2016
Contents
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - Cover1
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - Cover2
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - Contents
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 2
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 3
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 4
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 5
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 6
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 7
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 8
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 9
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 10
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 11
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 12
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 13
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 14
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 15
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 16
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 17
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 18
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 19
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 20
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 21
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 22
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 23
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 24
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 25
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 26
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 27
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 28
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 29
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 30
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 31
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 32
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 33
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 34
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 35
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 36
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 37
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 38
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 39
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 40
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 41
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 42
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 43
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 44
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 45
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 46
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 47
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 48
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 49
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 50
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 51
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 52
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 53
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 54
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 55
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 56
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 57
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 58
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 59
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 60
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 61
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 62
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 63
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 64
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 65
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 66
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 67
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 68
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 69
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 70
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 71
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 72
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 73
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 74
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 75
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 76
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 77
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 78
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 79
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 80
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 81
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 82
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 83
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 84
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 85
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 86
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 87
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 88
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 89
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 90
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 91
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 92
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 93
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 94
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 95
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 96
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 97
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 98
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 99
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 100
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 101
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 102
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 103
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 104
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 105
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 106
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 107
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 108
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 109
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 110
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 111
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 112
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 113
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 114
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 115
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 116
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 117
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 118
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 119
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 120
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 121
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 122
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 123
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 124
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 125
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 126
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 127
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 128
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 129
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 130
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 131
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 132
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 133
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 134
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 135
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 136
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 137
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 138
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 139
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 140
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 141
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 142
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 143
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 144
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 145
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 146
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 147
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 148
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 149
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 150
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 151
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 152
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 153
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 154
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 155
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 156
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 157
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 158
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 159
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 160
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - Cover3
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2018winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2015fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2014fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2014summer
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com