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Entries Tagged as 'Religion and Public Life'

Christianity on Trial – Tuesday Night

March 15th, 2010 1 Comment

Just a reminder to come to tomorrow night’s event at the University of Auckland where Matt will be part of a panel along with scientist Dr Jeff Talon, theologians Joe Fleener and Michael Drake, whom you can fire questions at around the topic “Christianity on Trial – is belief in [...]

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Chai Feldblum: “We Should not Tolerate Private Beliefs”

January 27th, 2010 5 Comments

In “Diatribe: To All Da Haters” (originally entitled “Queers and Destiny: Who Hates Who”) an article published a few years ago in Critic (the student magazine of Otago University) I wrote the following:
… If teaching that homosexual conduct is wrong is akin to racism or propagation of apartheid, then the aforementioned religious organisations are [...]

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Rangiora New Life College, Religion and Discrimination

December 13th, 2009 13 Comments

On Wednesday I flew to Christchurch for an interview regarding a religious education (RE) teaching position in a Catholic School. On having the interview and receiving the subsequent rejection email, it was clear what the reason I did not get the position was: I am a protestant, the school has a particular Catholic ethos [...]

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Religious Restraint and Public Policy: Part VI

December 3rd, 2009 No Comments

In my last posts, beginning Religious Restraint and Public Policy: Part I,  I set out the doctrine of religious restraint and critiqued some of the key arguments in support of it. I looked at the objection that the argument from respect is too thin, that applied consistently it excludes too much and Audi’s response to [...]

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Religious Restraint and Public Policy: Part V

November 30th, 2009 1 Comment

In my last posts, beginning Religious Restraint and Public Policy: Part I,  I set out the doctrine of religious restraint and critiqued some of the key arguments in support of it. I looked at the objection that the argument from respect is too thin, that applied consistently it excludes too much and Audi’s response to [...]

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Religious Restraint and Public Policy: Part IV

November 27th, 2009 No Comments

In my last posts, beginning Religious Restraint and Public Policy: Part I,  I set out the doctrine of religious restraint and critiqued some of the key arguments in support of it. I looked at the objection that the argument from respect is too thin, that applied consistently it excludes too much and Audi’s response to [...]

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Religious Restraint and Public Policy: Part III

November 25th, 2009 3 Comments

In my last posts, beginning Religious Restraint and Public Policy: Part I, I set out the doctrine of religious restraint and touched on some criticisms of it. I looked at and critiqued some of the key arguments in support of the doctrine of religious restraint. In this post I will look at the objection that [...]

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Religious Restraint and Public Policy: Part II

November 24th, 2009 2 Comments

In my last post, Religious Restraint and Public Policy: Part I, I set out the doctrine of religious restraint and touched on some criticisms of it. In this post, I begin looking at and critiquing some of the key arguments in support of the doctrine of religious restraint.

II         Arguments for the Doctrine of Religious [...]

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Religious Restraint and Public Policy: Part I

November 23rd, 2009 28 Comments

In this series I set out the doctrine of religious restraint, the idea that in a pluralistic, liberal, society religious beliefs should not be utilised in the formation of public policy. I note that this doctrine entails an asymmetrical treatment of religious and secular beliefs, which appears to conflict with the central notion of liberal [...]

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Audi and the Infallibility of Religious Reasons

November 7th, 2009 6 Comments

In “Liberal Democracy and the Place of Religion in Politics”,[1] Robert Audi defends the liberal thesis that religious reasons should not be utilised in debate on issues of public policy. Instead he contends that “one should not advocate or support any law or public policy that restricts human conduct unless one has, and is willing [...]

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