Search
Program Calendar
Browse By Day
Browse By Time
Browse By Person
Browse By Room
Browse By Division
Browse By Session Type
Search Tips
Personal Schedule
Sign In
In this paper I develop the concept of Christian liberalism, which I argue is a useful theoretical tool for understanding the contradictions embedded in the western liberal discourse of religious tolerance. Using examples from American religious freedom jurisprudence, I argue that Christian liberalism helps us to better understand the unequal distribution of accommodations for religious groups. The concept also elucidates the tension between claims that Christianity is a generic feature of the American public sphere, as well as a set of beliefs requiring specific state protections. This dual dimension of Christian liberalism helps to account for the ways that so-called neutral religious expressions (such as “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance) go uncontested while other specific theological claims become the basis for religiously-based exemptions from federal law (such as the Hobby Lobby decision, upholding corporations’ right to refuse full compliance with the ACA’s contraceptive mandate).