Brian Barry’s Egalitarian Liberalism as an Inspiring Source for a Fair Church-State System, as Illustrated by the Belgian Case

Abstract

Although the Belgian system is, as many European church-state policies, a form of accommodation, it is at the same time a system of separation. We can, using Modood’s terminology, describe the Belgian church-state relationship as ‘moderate secularism’. Because of the fundamental inequalities between diverse religious groups to which this system leads, it is useful to compare the Belgian church and state policy with Brian Barry’s liberal egalitarianism. We deduce a normative political theory of church and state from his liberal egalitarianism and compare this theory with the Belgian state and church policy. Moreover, Barry’s political theory not only gives us some arguments to improve the Belgian system, but it is also useful as a guideline and providence for other European church-state models.