Religious Convictions and Lawmaking

In this Article, presented as the 1985-86 Thomas M. Cooley Lectures at the University of Michigan School of Law on March 10-12, 1986, Professor Greenawalt addresses the role that religious conviction properly plays in the liberal citizen\u27s political decisionmaking in a liberal democratic society. Rejecting the notion that all political questions can be decided on rational secular grounds, Professor Greenawalt argues that the liberal democratic citizen may rely on his religious convictions when secular morality is unable to resolve issues critical to a political decision. The examples of animal rights and environmental protection, abortion, and welfare assistance illustrate situations where such reliance is appropriate. In a concluding section Professor Greenawalt inquires into the related issues of the use of religious arguments in political dialogue, reliance on religious convictions by legislators and judges, and the limits placed by the establishment clause on religiously motivated lawmaking