Tragic historicism: A theory of religious liberty

This dissertation offers a novel and controversial interpretation of the nature and value of religious liberty in our constitutional democracy. It claims that the pluralistic realities of contemporary religious and political life have outrun the ways in which American intellectuals think and write about religious freedom. The most influential theories of religious liberty and the Constitution, it argues, are in some ways the ones least able to confront the challenges of pluralism.;The dissertation argues that honesty about the inevitability of conflict and tragic loss must represent the core of any successful approach to clear thinking about religious freedom. And here, honesty means pausing good and long to consider the depth of the problem --- taking its full measure in order to understand as completely as possible the perpetual struggle for the proper balance between religious liberty and the values that compete against it.