Harm, Not Privilege. Review of: John Adenitire A General Right to Conscientious Exemption: Beyond Religious Privilege (Cambridge University Press, 2020)

Dr. John Adenitire's book, "General Right to Conscientious Exemption - Beyond Religious Privilege," comes at an auspicious time. When groups with different beliefs and values come into conflict, as they do frequently because of our rich diversity, the likelihood of harming one group is a result of our customary way of resolving these conflicts. Dr. Adenetire offers justifications for allowing objections based on deeply held beliefs – religious and non-religious – when those conflicts occur. The reviewer has spent 15 years in the culture wars deliberately assisting lawmakers to integrate rights for all people into the same law. The review begins with the idea that a thick pluralism and respect for all interests can lead communities to formulate nuanced rules that respect all members of our increasingly diverse, non-homogenous communities, which the reviewer calls Civil Rights Complementarity. The basic principle of Civil Rights Complementarity is that protections for one community do not need to harm members of other communities. In this approach, all people are empowered to live as they are, in private and in public. <br><br>This book provides a useful guide to lawmakers who are trying to harmonize civil rights protections for different communities, striving to allow all fully and authentically to be themselves, as far as possible, without harming or privileging others.<br>