A Response to Iain T. Benson, “Living Together with Disagreement:
Pluralism, the Secular and the Fair Treatment of Beliefs
in Canada Today”
Alex Fielding
Abstract
This response will be divided into three segments. First, it will respond to Benson’s analysis of pluralism, liberalism, and the “secular”. Second, it will advocate for a return to John Stuart Mill’s harm principle as a better way of reconciling competing claims when equality rights and religious freedoms collide. Third, it will apply the harm principle to the contemporary issues of same-sex marriage and the religious objections of marriage commissioners. The central idea is that by moving away from the vague, all-encompassing language of “Charter values” to the harm principle, we create a more pluralistic public sphere that gives reasons for religious and ethnic minorities to reciprocate such tolerance and participate actively in civil society.
Benson IT, Fielding A. Living Together with Disagreement: Pluralism, the Secular, and the Fair Treatment of Beliefs in Canada Today [Internet]. Camrose, Alberta: The Ronning Centre for the Study of Religion and Public Life; 2010: 46-60.