Nelson Tebbe is Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School and Visiting Professor of Law at Cornell Law School.
The intersection of religious liberty and equality is a topic of
great academic, legal, and social importance. It is also a topic
where passion and confusion too often outrun reason. In this book,
Nelson Tebbe patiently unravels the most prominent puzzles
concerning the place of religion in our constitutional
jurisprudence. His arguments are intelligent; fair and reflective;
methodologically self-conscious and careful; clear and fluent; and
exquisitely well-informed and timely.
*Lawrence Sager, University of Texas School of Law*
Nelson Tebbe brings principled coherence to controversies pitting
religious freedom against LGBT and women’s rights. This book is an
important, learned, and incisive contribution to topical debates in
legal practice and political theory.
*Cécile Laborde, University of Oxford*
With great rigor, intelligence, and a steady hand, Nelson Tebbe’s
Religious Freedom in an Egalitarian Age charts a thoughtful course
out of the polarized debates surrounding religious liberty and
LGBT/women’s equality. To great effect, the book deploys a notion
of ‘social coherence’ to guide legal mediation of conflicts between
faith and reason, divine and earthly values, private and public
power, and complex and conflicting moral visions of the good. Tebbe
is remarkably skilled at finding common ground from which to bring
otherwise warring parties together through shared values and a
sense of collective good. This book is essential reading for anyone
interested in the most difficult questions surrounding the modern
civil rights era.
*Katherine Franke, Columbia Law School*
Tebbe…reviews the current state of legal conflicts around religious
freedom and non-discrimination, including topics such as wedding
businesses turning away gay customers and the freedom of teachers
at religious institutions to express controversial opinions on
social media. Tensions run high around these cases, but Tebbe
balances all sides as he presents a framework, which he calls
social coherence, for how to ensure a fair, rational, and
consistent legal outcome…Tebbe’s explications of the principles and
the case law precedents they apply to are calm and reasoned, and
his selected examples shed light on some of the complexities of
applying them, including common errors…It’s a fascinating showcase
of relevant legal issues that is both scholarly and compassionate,
a true commitment to ideas above ideology.
*Publishers Weekly*
His goal was to create a framework for lawyers, journalists, and
advocates to reason through the culture wars on solid footing.
Tebbe’s question isn’t whether there should be religious exemptions
from laws that guarantee equal protection. An entire body of laws
and precedent tells us the answer is yes. Rather, he reminds us,
the question is when and how these exemptions should be allowed…For
those looking to root their advocacy arguments in constitutional
principles, the book is a worthwhile resource.
*Religion & Politics*
Nelson Tebbe’s aspiration is nothing less than teaching us all to
think more clearly and coherently about issues of marriage equality
and religious freedom. For anyone paying attention, this bandwidth
of legal disputes is white hot. And it is rare to find such a
thoughtful voice on these questions, which keep coming at us but
are rarely dealt with as skillfully and thoughtfully as in Tebbe’s
work.
*Jotwell*
Masterful…Extraordinary in its ambition, erudition and scope. Tebbe
covers vast areas of constitutional law seamlessly, bringing the
reader on a rich journey through the multiple spheres of law,
politics, and moral reasoning relevant to the topics addressed in
his book. This is, in many ways, far from surprising. Tebbe is one
of the most talented and highly regarded experts in the law and
religion field, and Religious Freedom in an Egalitarian Age
reflects that expertise…[This] is a first-rate work that should be
read by anyone interested in questions of religious freedom and
equality law.
*Constitutional Commentary*
Religious Freedom in an Egalitarian Age provides insightful
guidance on achieving compromises between these two foundational
values at a time where such compromises are sorely needed.
*Harvard Law Review*
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