The Liberal State Is Not Hostile to Religion

Among the most prominent lines of argument in political theory in the past several years has been a sharp critique of "liberalism" as essentially incompatible with pre-liberal ideals of human flourishing. Scholars advancing this critique object to the notion commonly asserted by progressives, usually in the name of "liberalism," that liberal ideals require laws that are "neutral"â??—â??by which they mean laws that do not embody and are not predicated upon any substantive view of what is humanly and morally valuable or what is right and wrongâ??—â??and that only laws that elevate unlimited personal choice in matters like abortion and sexuality can pass that test. Any political arrangement that insists on such neutrality is misbegotten and harmful, the critics argue.