The Right to be Wrong: Ending the Culture War over Religion in America

The same war breaks out every December. Some angry group sues to have a nativity scene and menorah taken down from city hall, while another angry group agitates to have them put up. And it’s not just holiday displays that cause this conflict. From public school curricula to zoning permits, no area of civil government seems safe from the ongoing struggle between those who say only the true faith belongs in public and those who say that no faiths do.

Who are the people behind this battle? Kevin Seamus Hasson thinks of them as “the Pilgrims” and the “Park Rangers.” Pilgrims believe that their truths requires them to restrict others' religious freedom. Park Rangers believe that their freedoms require them to make sure others' religious truths remain private. Together, these groups are responsible for the impasse over the role of religion in our public life.

The Right to be Wrong explains why the Pilgrims and Park Rangers are both mistaken. A partisan both of religious expression and personal freedom, Hasson takes the reader on a tour of the American tradition in pointing the way toward a pluralism that grounds religious freedom for all in the truth about each of us. You'll never look at the culture wars quite the same way after reading this book.

"A rational argument on a very important topic, at a crucial time in our nation's history."
— Jon Ward, Sunday Times

"A powerful case countering the conventional pitting of truth against tolerance."
— First Things

Kevin Seamus Hasson is the founder and chairman of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a public interest law firm that protects the free expression of all religious traditions. Hasson lives with his family in Fairfax County, Virginia.