A better way to mutual respect is to engage directly with the moral convictions citizens bring to public life, rather than to require that people leave their deepest moral convictions outside politics before they enter.

Sandel argues against a “bracketing” ideal in liberal public reason—the expectation that citizens should set aside their deepest moral or religious commitments when debating public policy. He suggests that this demand can be alienating and counterproductive, because it treats comprehensive moral views as illegitimate in democratic argument. Instead, mutual respect is better served when citizens openly state and contest the moral convictions that actually motivate them, while also offering reasons that others can engage with. The quote reflects Sandel’s broader communitarian critique of procedural liberalism: a healthy civic life requires moral dialogue about the good, not merely neutral rules for coexistence.