Religion and Equality

‘This volume provides a useful set of insights for both scholars and practitioners into one of the most significant and complex issues in modern human rights law. The chapters are written by leading experts from a range of jurisdictions and include a focus in the second part on same-sex marriage issues.’

Carolyn Evans, The University of Melbourne, Australia

‘Discriminating to fight discrimination? By addressing the "clash of rights" produced by the rise of an equalitarian paradigm, this study suggests diversity-friendly solutions as to how religious freedom and equality rights can be reconciled in the contemporary world, offering a holistic or integralist view of the legal system. It particularly appeals to scholars committed to the pursuit of reconciliation between apparently opposed rights and liberties.’

Carmen Asiain Pereira, University of Montevideo, Uruguay, and President of the Latin American Consortium for Freedom of Religion or Belief

‘This first volume of the new ICLARS series provides us with a fascinating debate on religion-as-equality instead of religion-as-liberty. This major turning point is deeply analysed through a rich comparative legal analysis, not only in a geographical and transcontinental way but also cross-thematical. What results is a really inspiring elucidation between equality among religions on the one hand and the various religious conceptions of equality on the other.’

Louis-Leon Christians, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium

‘Durham and Thayer invite us in to where religious diversity is not the problem but rather is the human condition. The book points the way forward, which entails not moral agreement or even mutual civility but a commitment to the civilizing rule that neither religion nor equality enlist the power of the state to get the other to renounce core beliefs or act contrary to them. The collection goes beyond mere description, getting down to solutions where the liberty claims of the religious are weighed against countervailing claims, such as those of our LGBT communities.’

Carl H. Esbeck, University of Missouri, USA