Irfan Yusuf; The Australian; 16/8/08
The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence and India’s Future; Martha C. Nussbaum; Harvard University Press
Martha Nussbaum is no ordinary academic. Her research and writing interests cover a broad spectrum of social sciences, including constitutional law, political science, theology, ethics and philosophy. In an age of academic specialisation, she is one of the few modern renaissance scholars. Nussbaum is also proof that pigeon holes weren’t created for towering intellectuals. Brought up in the Episcopalian Church, she converted to Judaism later in life. While enthusiastically embracing secularism, she rejects claims that the US constitution explicitly guarantees absolute separation of church and state. Instead, Nussbaum seems to adopt a view of secularism long held by South Asian writers: that it serves to mediate between the conflicting claims of otherwise exclusivist religions. The secular state does not champion atheism or hostility to religion. Rather, it champions religious pluralism: it should aim to treat all faiths (indeed, all beliefs) equally and impartially.
See: http://planetirf.blogspot.com/2008/08/books-defence-of-pluralism-in-rupturing.html