Religious Reasoning and Due Process of the Law: Why Religious Citizens Have the Burden to Prove the Innocence of Their Reasoning in the Public Square

Abstract

Many in the current legal culture perceive religious reasoning as irrational, as well as divisive and dangerous. Both legal scholars as well as state and federal judges agree that this perception affects the outcome of both free exercise and establishment cases. The two sides differ in that one side believes that to treat all religious claims as irrational, divisive, and dangerous is unjust; whereas, the other side thinks that this caricature is correct and that it needs to be enforced.