ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses how religious claims should be treated in the secular marketplace. It also addresses the question of whether individuals can discriminate in providing services. The question of whether there is an interference with the right of freedom of religion where a person claims they are religiously obliged to refuse to provide a service can be a particularly difficult one. Under US law, therefore, it may be very difficult to have a religious claim recognised as even infringing a right. Indeed, the extremely limited nature of religious freedom rights under US law is demonstrated by the fact that religious claimants have put forward often artificial arguments in an attempt to have a case decided under a more beneficial test. A separate issue is whether businesses themselves can have religious freedom rights. The chapter considers whether an interference can potentially be found when a person or business is required not to discriminate in providing a service.
