Speaker says all exemptions must be equal
Brock Sisney
Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: Campus Life
Jon Mahoney presented his lecture "Liberalism and Religious Equality" that debates religious and non-religious exemptions in law and policy last Friday.
"Each citizen is entitled to equal treatment by the state and its official policies, and this entitlement to equal treatment is a non-negotiable requirement of justice," Mahoney said, as his central argument's guiding principle.
Mahoney is an associate professor in philosophy at Kansas State University who earned his doctorate from State University of New York in Binghamton. At KSU, he specializes in social and political philosophy, ethics and philosophy of law.
Mahoney explored egalitarian liberalism, with his overriding thesis that egalitarian liberals should not favor religious values over non-religious values when citizens pursue exemption from law or policy, and that states should not put religious values up on a special legal pedestal.
"Liberalism and Religious Equality," which was sponsored by the PSU Philosophical Society, had four main components. The first component provided a summary of core egalitarian liberal values, the second looked at a Supreme Court case pertaining to exemption on religious grounds, the third made the point that religious values do have intrinsic merit while still making the argument against religious exemptions, and the fourth and final section considered alternatives and Mahoney restated his thesis.
Mahoney's summary of egalitarian liberal values highlighted individual autonomy, equality, freedom and equality for each citizen secured by the state, political authority must be justified to the persons under it, reason should be the basis for what states defend and that all citizens are entitled to freedom from oppression. He said all sides generally agree upon these principles and that disagreement comes from their practice.
The 1972 case Wisconsin v. Yoder provided the Old Order Amish a religious-based exemption from state policy, and this exemption does not apply to non-Amish citizens. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-1 in favor of the Old Order Amish.
"Each citizen is entitled to equal treatment by the state and its official policies, and this entitlement to equal treatment is a non-negotiable requirement of justice," Mahoney said, as his central argument's guiding principle.
Mahoney is an associate professor in philosophy at Kansas State University who earned his doctorate from State University of New York in Binghamton. At KSU, he specializes in social and political philosophy, ethics and philosophy of law.
Mahoney explored egalitarian liberalism, with his overriding thesis that egalitarian liberals should not favor religious values over non-religious values when citizens pursue exemption from law or policy, and that states should not put religious values up on a special legal pedestal.
"Liberalism and Religious Equality," which was sponsored by the PSU Philosophical Society, had four main components. The first component provided a summary of core egalitarian liberal values, the second looked at a Supreme Court case pertaining to exemption on religious grounds, the third made the point that religious values do have intrinsic merit while still making the argument against religious exemptions, and the fourth and final section considered alternatives and Mahoney restated his thesis.
Mahoney's summary of egalitarian liberal values highlighted individual autonomy, equality, freedom and equality for each citizen secured by the state, political authority must be justified to the persons under it, reason should be the basis for what states defend and that all citizens are entitled to freedom from oppression. He said all sides generally agree upon these principles and that disagreement comes from their practice.
The 1972 case Wisconsin v. Yoder provided the Old Order Amish a religious-based exemption from state policy, and this exemption does not apply to non-Amish citizens. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-1 in favor of the Old Order Amish.
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