Law Review: Justifying Religious Freedom: The Western Tradition

Justifying Religious Freedom: The Western Tradition
E. Gregory Wallace, 114 Penn St. L. Rev. 485

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If religion is nothing more than ‘transcendental moonshine’ or silly superstition–on the same level as fortune telling or believing in ghosts–it makes little sense to constitutionalize its protection. The fact that we have a Religion Clause suggests that religion is something more than foolishness, but what? Until we consider carefully what makes religion distinctive and worth protecting, we will never understand why we protect religious freedom or why we have a Religion Clause.