March 6: Cleveland + Web - Religion in the Public Square

Description:

Religion is often invoked in many major political and legal issues in America today, including abortion, the death penalty, and same-sex marriage. Many people object that appeals to religion in public debate are unfair because religious reasons are not comprehensible to all citizens, and to impose laws on citizens for reasons they cannot understand is unjust. In this view, people of faith may speak in the public square only if they first expunge religious appeals and present only secular reasons for their positions. Others argue that religious appeals are just as comprehensible as other reasons and that religion is as valid and reasonable a source of norms as are secular doctrines. In this view, excluding religion from public debate treats people of faith as second-class citizens who must either keep silent or translate their speech into a language that is foreign to them.
This program will present speakers on both sides of the issue and give members of the audience opportunities to raise questions.
Title:
Religion in the Public Square
When/Where:
March 6, 2015
10:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.
Moot Courtroom (A59)
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
11075 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106-7148
Also Webcast
Speaker:

• George Dent is the Associate Director of the Law School's Center for Business Law and Regulation. He has published many articles on corporate and securities law. He also writes on law and religion, as in “Civil Rights for Whom: Gay Rights Versus Religious Freedom,” University of Kentucky Law Journal (2006-07); and “How Does Same-Sex Marriage Threaten You?,” Rutgers Law Review (2007). Dent serves as a director of the National Association of Scholars and as president of the Ohio Association of Scholars. He co-chairs the Subcommittee on Constitutional Adjudication of the Religious Liberties Practice Group of the Federalist Society. He heads the Law Section of the Association for the Study of Free Institutions. He is chairman of the Ohio State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
• Matthew J. Franck, Director, William E. and Carol G. Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution, Witherspoon Institute and  Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Radford University in Virginia, where he taught constitutional law, American politics, and political philosophy, and chaired the Department of Political Science.
• Dr. Robert Talisse, Professor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt University Robert Talisse specializes in contemporary political philosophy, with particular interest in democratic theory and liberalism. His most recent work engages issues at the intersection of political philosophy and epistemology. In addition, he pursues topics in pragmatism, analytic philosophy, and ancient philosophy.

By:
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Credit:
1.5 hours of in-person CLE credit available, pending approval
Cost:
Free and open to the public. Pre-registration required.
More Information and Registration