Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers

McCrary, a research scholar at the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict at Arizona State University, debuts with an intriguing examination of the interplay between sincerity, religion, and secularism in U.S. law and culture. He focuses on how “secular courts, when evaluating an individual’s petition for religious freedom, putatively set aside the question of veracity—is this religious belief really true?—and consider instead whether the believer holds that belief sincerely.” Arguing that this approach has contributed to the inequitable distribution of religious freedom and legal sanctions for the breaking of antidiscrimination statutes by “white Christians on the political right,” McCrary delves into United States v. Ballard, the 1944 Supreme Court case that gave rise to the “sincerity test,” as well as more recent cases, including 2014’s Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, which determined that corporations can cite religious objections as justification for excluding contraception from their employees’ healthcare coverage. Ultimately, McCrary calls for a reconsideration of “sincerity” that allows for closer scrutiny of religious claims and their effects on others. Though the deep dives into the dynamics of secularism are heavy going, McCrary casts this complex subject in a new light. Readers will gain valuable insights into the politics of religion in America. (Apr.)