“We can hope that we will persuade people away from the errors and harms we see them embracing, but we have to guarantee and defend their right to believe and act differently from us, even as we ask them to do the same on our behalf.”

What does it take to put confident pluralism into practice? In this session, Professor Inazu describes how the civil liberties contained in the First Amendment are necessary for confident pluralism to be possible

Key Terms

Civil Liberties: Rights that protect individuals from oppressive government action. Civil liberties are  for everyone, including (and perhaps especially) for those whose ideas we don’t like or who lack political power.

Right of Association: The ability of people to form and gather in groups of their choosing.

Public Forum: A government-provided space for people to come together on their own terms and express their views to government officials, to one another, and to anyone who will listen.

Public Funding: Within the context of confident pluralism, public funding is generally available to fund a wide range of private groups to express their beliefs and values through benefits such as tax exemptions.

Main Points

• Confident pluralism depends on legal commitments.
• There must be a commitment to civil liberties for everyone, especially those on the losing end of political and social disagreements. 
• The right of association (including the right not to associate) is essential to a healthy society.
• Public forums, opened and operated by the government, facilitate peaceful expression and help keep our differences from festering. 
• Some forms of generally available public funding should be administered without regard to the viewpoints or beliefs of the beneficiaries of that funding. 
• Civil liberties must be available to all the people. Christians should protect others’ rights while hoping to persuade—rather than coerce—those who disagree.

Content Questions

• When do you find it hardest to use the protections of the law in defense of others?
• When should the law restrict harmful ideas?
• When do some groups and some ideas go too far outside of the bounds of civil society?
• What are some of the groups that are most important to you in your own life, and when are those groups misunderstood?

Application Questions

• It can often be hard to stand up for the rights of those with whom we disagree. What opportunities might your Christian community have to do this? How could you and your community lead others to allow for an open exchange of ideas, trusting that God’s truth will win out in the end?
• Think back to your answers about divisive issues in the last session. How do you think about people who think differently from you on these issues? Are you willing to stand up for their right to believe what they believe? Why or why not? What can be hard about that?