Same rights for everybody? On secularism, modest establishment and same-sex marriage

Abstract

This article seeks to map the current discussion of secularism and propose two conceptual expansions. The first is to include modest establishment in a framework of secularism defendable by political liberalism, and the second is to consider secularism in close connection to a theory of peoplehood. This understanding is illustrated by a reconstruction of Danish secularism and a recent case of Danish legislation allowing same-sex church marriage. Here, attention will be given to how questions of basic liberal principles in relation to religion spilled over into questions of peoplehood.