Part II Introduction

Religious intolerance in America dates back to the country’s very beginnings. Despite Constitutional commitments to the free exercise of religion and the separation of church and state (the Establishment Clause), freedom from religious persecution and the right to equal treatment in the United States have always been the result of hard-fought battles. Today, as ever, headlines reflect the struggle of non-Christians for safety and for representation. Today, as ever, we wrestle over the role of religion in the public sphere.

Religious belief, particularly when used to justify public policy, is contentious. It is also deeply personal. It gets to the root of who “we” are, who is included in and excluded from that “we,” and who gets to decide which beliefs will prevail. The controversial nature of religious belief makes it so that we avoid discussing it outside of our private spaces with like-minded others. But this tribalism leaves us ignorant of the diversity around us and ill-equipped to interact with those we do not know. Responsibly engaged citizens in our pluralistic society need to be versed in this history and in the wide variety of beliefs, practices, and orientations to religion that exist in society if we are to live peaceably together.