Founding Principles, Secular Skeptics, and Religious Freedom: Review of Kathleen A. Brady, the Distinctiveness of Religion in American Law: Rethinking Religion Clause Jurisprudence

Abstract

This review essay evaluates Kathleen Brady’s provocative and original defense of the idea that religion remains special in modern liberal democracies, and deserves special constitutional treatment. While warmly commending this work, this essay also queries the author’s delicate non-originalist reading of original sources, her non-theological account of religious arguments, and her neglect of valuable international human rights sources in support of religious freedom for all.

Keywords: Kathleen Brady; First Amendment; religious arguments; religious freedom; James Madison; John T. Noonan, Jr