%0 Journal Article
%T Religious Neutrality, Toleration and Recognition in Moderate Secular States: The Case of Denmark
%A Sune Laegaard
%J Les Ateliers de l¡¯¨¦thique
%D 2011
%I Universit¨¦ de Montr¨¦al
%X This paper provides a theoretical discussion with point of departure in the case of Denmark of some of the theoretical issues concerning the relation liberal states may have to religion in general and religious minorities in particular. Liberal political philosophy has long taken for granted that liberal states have to be religiously neutral. The paper asks what a liberal state is with respect to religion and religious minorities if it is not a strictly religiously neutral state with full separation of church and state and of religion and politics. To illuminate this question, the paper investigates a particular case of an arguably reasonably liberal state, namely the Danish state, which is used as a particular illustration of the more general phenomenon of ¡°moderately secular¡± states, and considers how one might understand its relations to religion. The paper then considers the applicability to this case of three theoretical concepts drawn from liberal political philosophy, namely neutrality, toleration and recognition, while simultaneously using the case to suggest ways in which standard understandings of these concepts may be problematic and have to be refined.L¡¯article fournit une discussion th¨¦orique, avec comme point de d¨¦part le cas du Danemark, de certaines questions th¨¦oriques concernant la relation que les ¨¦tats lib¨¦raux peuvent entretenir avec la religion en g¨¦n¨¦ral et les minorit¨¦s religieuses en particulier. La philosophie politique lib¨¦rale a longtemps tenu pour acquis que les ¨¦tats lib¨¦raux devaient ¨ºtre neutres sur le plan religieux. L¡¯article s¡¯interroge sur le statut de l¡¯¨¦tat lib¨¦ral quant ¨¤ la religion et aux minorit¨¦s religieuses si cet ¨¦tat n¡¯est pas strictement neutre avec une pleine s¨¦paration de l¡¯¨¦glise et de l¡¯¨¦tat ainsi que de la religion et du politique. Afin d¡¯¨¦clairer cette question, l¡¯article se penche sur le cas particulier d¡¯un ¨¦tat pouvant ¨ºtre raisonnablement qualifi¨¦ d¡¯¨¦tat lib¨¦ral, l¡¯¨¦tat danois, lequel est utilis¨¦ en tant qu¡¯illustration particuli¨¨re du ph¨¦nom¨¨ne plus g¨¦n¨¦ral des ¨¦tats   mod¨¦r¨¦ment s¨¦culiers  , et il consid¨¨re comment son rapport ¨¤ la religion peut ¨ºtre con u. L¡¯article consid¨¨re ensuite l¡¯applicabilit¨¦ ¨¤ ce cas particulier de trois concepts issus de la philosophie politique lib¨¦rale, en l¡¯occurrence la neutralit¨¦, la tol¨¦rance et la reconnaissance, tout en se servant de mani¨¨re simultan¨¦e de ce cas afin de sugg¨¦rer des raisons pour lesquelles les compr¨¦hensions standards de ces concepts peuvent ¨ºtre probl¨¦matiques et doivent ¨ºtre affin¨¦es.
%K ethics
%K toleration
%K recognition
%K politics
%K religious neutrality
%U http://www.erudit.org/revue/ateliers/2011/v6/n2/1008033ar.pdf