Religious Arbitration as a Secular Value

Abstract

This chapter states the case in favor of religious arbitration. The most important argument is that recognizing religious arbitration is a religious freedom imperative. Perhaps just as important, religious arbitration often resolves disputes better than does secular adjudication. Equally important, religious arbitration is necessary for resolving religious problems such as the agunah problem and very importantly, secular recognition of religious arbitration helps moderate and integrate religions generally. Related to that, secular recognition of religious arbitration promotes value sharing that enriches public policy and discourse. Precisely The chapter concludes by noting that precisely because as a society we can no longer agree on a single definition for what were once commonly held legal sacraments, religious arbitration is a fundamental tool to allowing many different and competing parts of society to flourish.