Comic · Routledge

Religion in Liberal Democracy as a Form of Life

Free and Equal

By outlining historical developments, and by closely examining case studies of recent controversies about religious diversity in Germany and the Netherlands, this book identifies shortcomings of the current predominant liberal account of freedom of religion or belief. Based on this analysis, the author proposes a more complex theory of liberal democracy as form of life, with religion and religious freedom as components of it. This takes into account that informal norms, social structures, and predominant notions of belonging can function as powerful obstacles to freedom and equality, even if formal legal and political institutions prohibit discrimination based on religion. Construing liberal democracy as a 'form of life', that is as a set of social practices, attitudes, and their institutional manifestations and material expressions, shifts the focus of critical analysis from the law to informal structures and components. .