Religious minorities’ rights assertions affirm rather than threaten American institutions

Evidence

Ironically, while social discrimination against religious minorities is politically activated when confidence in America’s institutions is at a low ebb, religious minorities’ assertion of their rights through a defense of constitutional liberties speaks to the vitality of America’s democratic institutions and their transformative role in assimilating minorities. — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 285

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s existing work on constitutional-and-identity conflicts elsewhere; also a classic Tocqueville-style point about associational life. — connects to: Religious-liberty jurisprudence asymmetrically weighs believers’ burden against outsiders’ harm — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 950; Religious claims anchor constitutional inequality and block democratic equality. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 565; Courts exempt religious minorities whose values echo mainstream culture — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 1423