Justice Brennan's Accommodating Approach toward Religion

Abstract

the absurd polarization of American political culture, many have come to treat religion as a partisan matter. It is easy for liberals to point at religious right events, like Sunday, but there are equally divisive counterparts on the left. Many people on the left side of the political spectrum seem to think that religiously grounded political conservatism is not only wrong, but somehow illegitimate-an affront to public reason and the secular state. Furthermore, the political left often asserts that long-standing protections for the independence of religious institutions, such as tax exemptions and regulatory accommodations, are unwarranted special privileges. A recent four part New York Times series, In God's Name: Favors for the Faithful, even compared religious accommodations enacted by Congress to special-interest appropriations earmarks. 1 Against this backdrop, re-reading Justice Brennan's religion decisions brings a breath of fresh air. striking contrast to the partisans of today, Justice Brennan did not view a vigorous and publicly active religious sector as a threat to democratic values. His interpretation of the separation of church and state did not pit the religious against the secular nor favor secular ideologies over their religious counterparts. Instead, Justice Brennan sought to protect the freedom of both, and ultimately the freedom of the American people to make their own decisions about what worldviews are most persuasive. Indeed, with one glaring exception, Justice Brennan's jurisprudence was highly protective of religious freedom and hence, in many applications, of religion.