Freedom's Edge: Religious Freedom, Sexual Freedom, and the Future of America

by Frank S. Ravitch

Overview

Freedom's Edge takes the reader directly into the heart of the debate over the relationship between religious freedom and LGBT and reproductive rights. The book explains these complex areas of law, and what is at stake in the battle to protect each of these rights. The book argues that religious freedom and sexual freedom share some common elements and that in most contexts it is possible to protect both. Freedom's Edge explains why this is so, and provides a roadmap for finding common ground and maximizing freedoms on both sides. The book will enable anyone with an interest in these issues to understand what the law actually teaches us about religious freedom, sexual freedom, and how they interact. This is important because what is often argued by partisans on both sides distorts the legal and cultural stakes, and diminishes the possibility of compromise.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781316611555
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/08/2016
Pages:	242
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 9.06(h) x 0.51(d)

About the Author

Frank S. Ravitch is Professor of Law and the Walter H. Stowers Chair in Law and Religion at the Michigan State University College of Law, and Director of the Kyoto, Japan Summer Program. He is the author of several books, including Marketing Creation: The Law and Intelligent Design (Cambridge, 2011) and Masters of Illusion: The Supreme Court and the Religion Clauses (2007). He is the co-author, with the late Boris Bittker and Scott Idleman, of the first comprehensive treatise on US Law and Religion in more than fifty years, Religion and the State in American Law (Cambridge, 2015). Professor Ravitch has published numerous law review articles and book chapters addressing US and Japanese constitutional law, law and religion, and civil rights law in leading journals. Moreover, he has written a number of amicus briefs addressing constitutional issues to the United States Supreme Court.

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. A view from three places; 2. Religious freedom; 3. Sexual freedom; 4. County clerks and other government employees; 5. For-profit companies, shops, and commercial landlords; 6. Conscience claims; 7. Religious non-profits; 8. Some concluding thoughts.

Editorial Reviews

'Religious freedom and sexual freedom are not perennial enemies that must vanquish the other in order to flourish, Frank Ravitch shows. They are two of many fundamental freedoms that can coexist in a democratic society committed to justice and liberty for all. This crisply written expert guide uses compelling case studies and comprehensive legal analysis to coax radical culture warriors away from their legal brinkmanship and toward a more humane and enduring modus vivendi.' John Witte, Jr, Emory University

From the Publisher