From Private Prejudice to Public Policy: How Religious Conservatives Use Liberalism to Control Women’s Bodies the U.S. and Israel in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

The article uses the feminist critique of the patriarchal nature of religion and liberalism, the feminist critique of flaws in political liberalism, and a sociopolitical analysis of the power of religious conservative groups in the U.S. and Israel, to claim that religious conservatives use the patriarchal nature of liberalism, its inherent flaws, and the conservative political power, to turn private religious prejudice into public policy. Analyzing the constitutional and legal status of religion in the U.S. and the recent dramatic changes it has undergone the article shows that contrary to popular belief, and due to the aforementioned factors, the American model of separation between religion and the state cannot protect women’s rights against the religious conservative attack. The article uses a comparative analysis of the religious conservative attack on women’s rights in Israel to show that despite the very different religion state relations the religious conservative attack in the two countries is similar in both method and success.

Keywords: women's rights, religion, liberalism, feminism, conservativism, Israel, USA