I. Course Introduction
A. Why study religion and politics?
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Relevance in Political History (Western Civilization)
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Relevance in American History
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Relevance in Political Philosophy
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Relevance in Political Debate
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Relevance in Political Outcomes (parties, policy, voting,
elections, groups, etc.)
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Applies to us all? The political question, then, is not, How
does religion relate to non-religious politics? but rather,
What kind of politics—what stances, arguments, policies,
and principles—flow from different religions or ways of
understanding the world and life, whether they are older
(traditional) or newer ‘religions’? We will not understand the
political dynamics of the contemporary world until we
recognize the religiousness of all peoples and cultures and
the differences among their basic assumptions about
human flourishing and their diverse impacts on political and
economic developments.
*Someone may argue that religion ought not be relevant, but it
would be mistaken or naïve to say that it is not relevant.
B. The place of politics and religion in America
(comparatively speaking). Neither Iran, England,
France, or Sweden. No homework on Wednesday
nights; government offices closed on Sundays; out
on Easter and Christmas. Peter Berge: “If India is
the most religious country on our planet, and
Sweden is the least religious, America is a land of
Indians ruled by Swedes.” Instead, we have a sort
of “permissive establishment” of religion here, where
the major religion is accommodated in public life (not
oppressive, not prescriptive, not entirely secular).
C. How will we study R&P? Where do we limit the
study? Course will focus mostly on most dominant
religious groups, movements, events, trends, in
American political history and behavior.
II. But What about the Secularization thesis?
A. Definition: Religious belief and practice is (and ought to be)
decreasing in relevance & acceptance as human progress
is advanced through modernization and globalization.
B. Evidence – Religion is ‘safe’ and irrelevant
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Decline of religiosity (in Europe, at least)
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Rise of dualism (division of sacred/secular airtight
categories) and the privatization/secularization of
Christianity (America); paradigm shift; Christian and
religious categories, once taken for granted, no longer
welcome as lenses through which we must interpret the
world; from 1950-today America moved from dualism
towards postmodernism. (Example: Bible-theft).
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How pervasive? Can you imagine a research program or
department who’s whole mission was to examine the
phenomenon of secularism?
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Responses to naturalism by Christians, a new
protestantism: growth in subjective faith, growth in
experiential faith; growth in relative faith; growth in
spiritualism; decline of traditionalism and growth in secular
marketing strategies (p. 15 Wald).
C. Causes of Secularization
1. Dualism in Theology (Aquinas division of Nature and Grace)
2. Dualism in Philosophy - Especially articulated in the thought of
Immanuel Kant, we divide knowledge, truth, and all activity into
revelation vs reason, science vs faith, fact vs value, etc. This,
we say, is the nature of knowledge and we add that matters of
faith, values, and revelation (religion) are of private use only
while matters of fact, science, and reason are of public use.
3. Great Awakening’s identification of Christian life with individual
experience, not testable truth claims and corporate confessions
of faith.
4. Surrender of the fundamentalists (1900-1970)
5. Rise of the secular left (1850-1950) - This group eventually
gained control of the public/social institutions and successfully
argued that anyone who wants to play with them must use their
ball (secular or naturalistic assumptions about the world).
Successfully changed basic understandings of science,
education at all levels, public philosophy, church-state doctrine,
model of personhood (from the soul to the psychologized self),
and journalism. Notice: interest was not a neutral public space,
but a new moral order (and toppling of the old Protestant one).
Next generation gave us the 1960s revolutions and
postmodernism.
6. Growth of Modern Government – Government was
once limited to “commerce and civil order” and the
church focused on charity and inculcation of goodness
and truth. But when gov’t expanded its role (welfareregulatory state), it pushed religion to those areas not
important enough to have received the help/control of
government (margins of public life).
7. Public Education – For secular elites, the goal was to
create universal centers of intellectual reconstruction,
where successive generations are trained exclusively
in secular methods and eventually secular
perspectives on. For protestants, it was to help the
poor and (and in some cases, undermine catholic
education). Result: secular thinking and secular
viewpoints training over 90% of the last few
generations. The 1960s was not accident. (Read p.
133 of Baker)
D. Challenges to secularization (in addition to the U.S. itself) –
(1) birth, marriage, immigration patterns in U.S. and
especially Europe (2) stable beliefs and practice of
evangelicals despite economic incline; regular church
attendance in U.S. well over 50% (3) growth of Islam and
Christianity worldwide (4) return of theology in American
evangelicalism (SBC 30% ministers Reformed) (5)
Argument that secularization is not non-religious; Some
religions are traditional, some are new, and among the new
religions are those guided by a secular faith, a belief
system held by communities whose gods--which they do
not acknowledge as gods—are the idols of human
autonomy, scientific rationality, technological progress, the
nation, economic growth, a communist future, or sheer
power in itself (6) argument that religion persists because
it, and not science, satisfies a basic human need, the
desire to explain existence/life (7) resurgence of religion in
public life in the name of government neutrality
III. Worldview and Presuppositions
A. What is religion? A lot the confusion about the role of
religion in politics comes from our assumptions about
religion, or how to define it. If religion means traditional
rituals or practices of organized faith communities, then
not all are religious (popular view in the West). If religion
means adherence (wittingly or otherwise) to a
philosophical system, basic beliefs about what is
ultimately real, true, right, valuable, and meaningful, then
everyone is religious.
B. 7 Worldview Questions from James Sire
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What is prime reality?
What is the nature of external reality?
What is a human being?
What happens at death?
Why/how is it possible to know anything at all?
How do know right from wrong?
What is the meaning of human history?
C. If the worldview concept is correct (everyone’s
got one), then one could never divorce religion
from politics. Worldviews do not cloud our
judgment, they determine our judgment. There
is no “free-thinker,” can’t judge religion except
on the basis of another religion; GK Chesterton
and the universal reality of dogmatism. AND. If
politics is about the authoritative allocation of
values (choosing which values to legislate),
then politics necessarily is informed by
worldview convictions about what values are
best for society.
IV. Religious Arguments in Public Discourse (Draw 2
Circles – Religion/Politics
A. NO! KEEP RELIGION IN CHURCH!
1. Simple argument
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Different beliefs about God
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Differences may lead to violence
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With no certainty about religion, avoid religion in public
space
2.
John Rawls and the doctrine of Public Reason
Problem: How can people committed to different worldviews
live/work 2gether as equals in a fair peaceful society?
Answer: Limit reasons to only those premises held in
common by all (‘overlapping’) and assume all citizens
participate from behind a ‘veil of ignorance’, where no
one knows what status they will hold in life. Result? Just
society and possibility of ongoing conversation in public.
3. Natural Law - In politics, we use science and reason
(accessible to all by God’s natural revelation). In
religion, we use special revelation (word of God).
Robert George agrees that religious reasons must
not be used as political reasons. He only argues
that Rawls must not limit political reasons to only
those reasons held in common by all people. As a
natural law philosopher, he insists that some truths
can be ascertained by all through unaided natural
reason and are therefore acceptable in the public
square, even if not all citizens recognize them or
even if these naturally discerned truths are rejected
by many. If Rawls requires ‘overlapping’ reasons,
George requires ‘natural’ reasons, but both
ultimately reject revealed or religious reasons.
B. YES! PERMIT THE DIFFERENT VOICES! (some
public subject matter, say justice, overlaps and is
relevant in one’s religious concerns; concentric
circles)
1. Critiques of Rawls – Not consistent with liberal
democracy, free speech, or pluralism; discredits men
like MLK and movements like the abolition
movement; inconsistent with government neutrality
since secularism/naturalism differ with Christianity,
for instance, only in content not form; conceived
towards a desired result, the case of abortion and
slavery (original position vs public reason); selfdefeating since Rawls’ assertion that only reasons
held in common are permissible is itself a principle
not held in common by all, so it too should be
excluded?
2. Nicholas Wolterstorff’s critique of Richard Rorty
(FROM THE READING)
V.
A.
1.
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5.
Key concepts in Political Theology
Key questions:
What is breadth and depth of Creation-Fall-Redemption?
What is the nature of the kingdom of God/Christ?
When and how is that kingdom realized? (Millennium)
Is natural revelation an adequate basis for civil government?
Is the state supposed to enforce the moral law of God? Christ
and Culture
B. Christ against Culture (opposition; ‘Holy Huddle’; the culture is lost
and evil and Christians should separate themselves entirely);
Quaker, “third-race” sectarians; Anabaptists traditions
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Christ of Culture (agreement; whatever is good/enjoyable/helpful
in culture is coextensive with Christianity; no conflict at all); 19th –
20th century liberal protestantism (Jefferson)
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Christ above culture (grace perfects nature; synthesis where
culture is finished off by church; culture can lead you to God but
church must take you the rest of the way); Aquinas and Roman
Catholic tradition
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Christ and culture in paradox (tension; dualist); Lutheran
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Christ transforms culture (reformational; creation is being
misdirected and is in need of recreational work of Christ through
Christians); Calvinistic and social gospel movement
C. Political Theologies (Historic)
1. Strong Church-State Affinity – Roman Catholic,
Anglican, National Confessionalist and Christian
America (Puritans and the Christian
commonwealth)
2. Interactive – Lutheran and Principled-Pluralism of
Dutch Reformed (we are citizens of two nonoverlapping kingdoms)
3. Strong Separation Models – Baptist (historic) and
Anabaptist traditions (God’s rule ended at the
cross)