000			01620nam a22001577a 4500
999			_c516298 _d516298
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100			_aFreeman, Samuel R. _925078
245			_aDemocracy, religion and public reason
260			_aDaedalus
300			_a149(3), Summer 2020: p.37-58
520			_aA convention of democracy is that government should promote the common good. Citizens’ common good is based in their shared civil interests, including security of themselves and their possessions, equal basic liberties, diverse opportunities, and an adequate social minimum. Citizens’ civil interests ground what John Rawls calls “the political values of justice and public reason.” These political values determine the political legitimacy of laws and the political constitution, and provide the proper bases for voting, public discussion, and political justification. These political values similarly provide the terms to properly understand the separation of church and state, freedom of conscience, and free exercise of religion. It is not a proper role of government to promote religious doctrines or practices, or to enforce moral requirements of religion. For government to enforce or even endorse the imperatives or ends of religion violates individuals’ freedom and equality: it encroaches upon their liberty of conscience and freedom to pursue their conceptions of the good; impairs their equal civic status; and undermines their equal political rights as free and equal citizens. - Reproduced
650			_aDemocracy, Religion _924901
773			_aDaedalus
906			_aDEMOCRACY
942			_cAR