The debate about religion in the public sphere: application problems and constitution of identity

Abstract

Lately, the relevance that religion has or should have, as a set of motivations and preceptsin legislative decision-making, has become the center of an intense debate not onlyin Spain but all across the Western world. This article argues that it should be possible tofocus this discussion in the sphere of public opinion on the claim of an impartial applicationof the rights and obligations spelled out in a constitution. This would enable us todiscern whether or not there are reasons to apply a given law in cases of conflict and therebyto extend or reduce the obligations of some people and the rights of other. Participantsin such deliberations in the public sphere are allowed to articulate the claim of impartialityfor their respective positions with religious reasons as long as they are prepared torespond to the arguments of discrimination or of partial application presented by otherpeople. In this process, not only the reasons but also the consequences of applying the correspondingnorms have to turn out to be non-discriminatory. If anyone at all can make the case that there is discrimination, it is no longer permissible to refuse to respond merelybecause the claim has been formulated in religious terms or, to the contrary, only becauseit lacks religious reasons.