Appendix F. 
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Why should those who lose the political struggle put up with 
this? For the simple reason that living in a liberal democracy means 
sometimes being in the minority, even on questions of the utmost 
importance, but so long as the laws which one opposes are 
consistent with the Constitution and enacted according to legally 
appropriate procedures, one has an obligation to obey them. 
B, Legislation 
Is it really a legitimate aim of a liberal democracy to adopt laws 
and take actions to shape the moral beliefs of its citizens? Perhaps 
federal funding is the exception, and to the extent possible the moral 
dimension should be eliminated from policy formation. Doesn’t 
government in a liberal democracy have an obligation to remain 
neutral toward competing conceptions of a good life, and so refrain 
from enacting morals into law? Otherwise, doesn’t it impermissibly 
infringe on people’s right to choose how to live their lives. 
According to a common and sound criticism of this common view 
of the liberal state, such neutrality is a chimera: it is impossible for 
any government to remain neutral about morality and the nature of a 
well-lived life, since the resolution of controversies over public 
policy-for what purposes is the state permitted to classify citizens by 
race? what is the meaning of marriage? to what extent may the 
public schools engage in civic education?- always draw upon, 
reinforce, or suppress a view about what is deserving, proper and 
good. It is possible, as a matter of policy, to tolerate a wide variety of 
choices and forms of life, but toleration itself is a moral principle 
based on a certain interpretation of how to secure human freedom 
and respect the dignity of the individual. 
Some then object that because of its very foundational 
commitments, our liberal democracy privileges the autonomous or 
freely choosing life. And so in sense it does. But it need not and 
should not do this unwittingly or surreptitiously. The mistake is to 
think that liberal state stands or falls with the commitment to 
neutrality. It doesn’t. It stands or falls with the commitment to 
creating the conditions under which individuals can exercise political 
freedom. 
Law and public policy in a liberal democracy properly seek to 
create conditions in which citizens can make informed and 
responsible choices. It does this in a variety of ways. The first and 
most taken for granted is through the establishment of public order. 
It also does this through establishing a system of public schools, 
promoting research in the arts and sciences, and enacting a wide 
variety of social and economic legislation, all with a view to forming 
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