Striking a Balance: Advancing Civil and Human Rights While Preserving Religious Liberty

“Striking a Balance: Advancing Civil and Human Rights While Preserving Religious Liberty,” documents how religious arguments have been used to justify discrimination against diverse communities including opposing the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage and equality, racial integration, inter-racial marriage, immigration, the Americans with Disabilities Act, same-sex marriage, and the right to collectively bargain. It reviews the historical context of religious arguments that were marshalled in public policy debates, both to support the expansion of civil rights and legal equality and to support various forms of discrimination, including slavery, racial segregation, ethnically targeted immigration restrictions, the disenfranchisement of women, and suppression of workers’ rights.