Religious Identity in Democracy: the Difficulties of the Two-Way Protection Theory

Abstract: This article addresses one of the key problems in contemporary political philosophy, in general, and in the doctrine of deliberative democracy, in particular: what is the status of religious identity in the context of the multiculturalism and the pluralism of modern-day democratic societies and what is the role of religious comprehensive principles and arguments in the democratic decision making procedures? I will follow Amy Gutmann, a prominent defender of deliberative democracy, in stating that all the various theoretical answers to this question could be included in one of the following three categories: the strict separation theory, the one-way protection theory and the two-way protection theory. The argumentation of this paper will focus on the critical analysis of the two-way protection theory developed by Amy Gutmann as an alternative conception to the other two doctrines mentioned above. My main objective is to reveal some of the difficulties her conception has to face