Ricca M. (2023). Why does religion matter for democracy? Some theoretical observations after reading Hunter-Henin’s book ‘Why religious freedom matters for democracy’ – In F. Oliosi (a cura di), Diritto, religione, coscienza: il valore dell’equilibrio. Liber Amicorum per Erminia Camassa (pp. 421 - 440). Modena: Modena.

In this essay I proffer some theoretical and critical observations on cru- cial issues in the field of Law & Religion research, such as secularism, religious free- dom, the ‘legal matter’ of religion, the ‘religious law/state law’ translation, and so on. In undertaking this task, I was inspired by a recent book that addresses, by its very title, the question ‘why does religious freedom matters for democracy?’. My goal is to elaborate a kind of counterpoint (almost in a musical way) to the que- stion foregrounded by this book through a theoretical analysis of what is the ‘mat- ter’ of religion when considered in comparison to the ‘matter of (secular) law’.