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Government
Faith in Public
A review of
The Naked Public Square
and
A Public Faith
by
Byron Borger
The Naked Public Square
Richard John Neuhas (Eerdmans, 1984)
I forget who first used the comedic phrase “It’s
deja vu
all over again” but it seems like the themes and context of this 1980s classic about religious faith in public life are being experienced all over again. For those who aren’t old enough to remember, or those of us who have tried to forget, the 1980s saw a huge and boisterous activation of what came to be known as the religious right; Jerry Falwell was crusading against vice through his political movement called The Moral Majority. Sojourners and others insisted that Jesus was not necessarily a Reagan republican and offered a strong critique of accommodating Christ to the conservative political agenda. And then the serious-push-back began as secularists (and even some liberal Protestants and Jews) insisted that people of faith, especially evangelicals, ought not to allow their faith to inform their understanding of citizenship and public policy. Even intellectuals who should have known better blithely cited Jefferson’s wall of separation between the institutions of church and the state, stating that such wise concerns against a state church and the constitutional prohibition against the “establishment” of religion meant that individual religious believers dare not talk about their faith in the public square. These were often loud and contentious debates, waged on the editorial pages of The New York Times to the local bars and beauty shops. It was said that the arenas of civic conversation, the institutions of local politics, what was increasingly being called “the public square” should be thoroughly secular. Only those who claimed to have no faith were allowed to talk about their motivating ideologies.
Amid this clamor, Richard Neuhas’s book became a clarion call to re-think this unfair bias in favor of the secularists and attempted to adjudicate the tensions that naturally arise when various citizens hold deeply held convictions. Who gets to say that some convictions—say those of a devout Muslim or a conservative Mormon, for instance—are to be excised from public life? In the most obvious examples of bio-medical ethics and the abortion debates, but even in discussions about welfare reform or warfare, should politicians cite sacred texts? More mundanely, can local public school children sing Christmas carols or can a local fire hall display a Christmas tree? There were debates. There were lawsuits.
To keep religious folks and their language and ways of thinking out of the public discourse and institutions does not, Neuhas cogently argued, create a public square that is neutral (or naked) as such an arrangement privileges those who say that religion is forbidden—which is hardly a neutral perspective! No, the attempt to remove any and all religious conviction is itself “self-defeating” since it establishes one particular ideological view. And so, in
The Naked Public Square
the late Father Neuhas, made a huge and vital contribution: there is no such thing as a naked public square because even to silence or marginalize those of traditional faith perspectives is to merely establish one (secular) worldview and discriminates against all others.
The second major contribution of the book was the weight of its case regarding what to do about this vexing matter: how can we legitimately create civic space for any and all citizens, neither disallowing nor favoring any one worldview, religious or secular? If a “naked” or value-free approach is impossible and we ought not exclusively favor the secularist bias, what sort of political arrangements would invite an authentic and sustainable pluralism? Can we consistently affirm a view that assures justice for all, from the ACLU to the Moral Majority, from the secularist to the religious? Yes, Neuhas insists, we must make room for all voices and we do that with a serious and deeply-held conviction about the importance of principled pluralism.
The Naked Public Square
remains a historic book, lucid, thoughtful, well-argued, eloquent in many ways. It makes a persuasive case against naïve notions of religious neutrality and assured public intellectuals that making room for all voices and perspectives was not only fair and wise but what the founders and framers of our great land intended. He did not intend to impose a religious worldview nor was he necessarily aligned with the policies of the new right. But he did offer a vital critique of the incoherence of a view that in the name of neutrality would rule out of court any but the most secular of citizens and perspectives. As religion and politics continues to be front and center in our national political discourse, it is a thoughtful and wise classic we need to remember all over again.
-----
A Public Faith
Miroslov Volf (Baker; 2010)
If there is any one theologian writing today that may deserve to be considered a true public intellectual it would be Yale professor, Miroslov Volf. As a follower of Christ and as a thinker, Volf came of age amidst the Serbo-Croatian war and wrote an award winning and much-discussed rumination on those years called
Exclusion and Embrace.
He has continued to write on topics of interest to many Q readers—a Christian view of work, relating faith to calling and vocation, political justice and the nature of love, interfaith discussions (especially between Christians and Muslims) and several astute and eloquent works on forgiveness. This new book is garnering much praise and it has been highly regarded by some of our wisest Christian thinkers (such as Nicholas Wolterstorff and Richard Mouw.)
In
A Public Faith
Volf writes passionately about some of the themes raised by Neuhaus, however it is clearly a 21st century book. It is global, it is attentive to a variety of religions, and is less a response to the hegemony of the secularists but is a reflection on how to be faithful to Christ in a pluralizing world of huge diversity, ideological and religious. Volf wants to be very clear that the Lordship of Christ—a doctrine taken seriously by Christians—has implications for our views of politics, how we live as citizens, and how we relate to neighbors at home and around the world. Yes, indeed, Christ is our true King. But, ahhh, how do we work that out in a democratic culture, inspired by Biblical texts that remind us of our commitment to the common good?
Volf is no theocrat and he is not a simple do-gooder who thinks that Christian discipleship merely means to help others, accommodating Biblical truths to a general liberal consensus. He advocates a public, robust, fully-committed Christian perspective, but he shows how just such a serious theology of public discipleship must include a commitment to honor others, of being patiently merciful to others, of holding forth uniquely Christian positions even as we respect and engage the positions of others. One could say that he has a significant theology of “common grace for the common good.”
A Public Faith
in some ways could be considered a version of the Neuhaus book, 25 years and a cultural light year away. We have seen genocide and terrorism, postmodernism and increased hostility to the Christian right, even as the evangelical world has diversified and grown more sophisticated in its public witness. If Neuhaus'
Naked Public Square
was the right book for the right time a generation ago, Volf may have written that book for us today. This is the right book for the right time, urgent, clear-headed, insightful and good. We can be grateful for his wide vision, his deep concerns, and his graceful desires to see Christ honored in the public square, in ways that are humble, tolerant and just.
You can order both of these books at
Hearts and Minds Books
. Mention Q Ideas when you order and receive 20% off.
What obstacles do you encounter to living out your faith in public? What opportunities?
How ought followers of Jesus approach the public square?
Editor's Note: The image above was taken by
Luciti
.
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Comments
Jacob
How do we redeem the way the public views Christians? Its hard to stand on my beliefs when I'm automatically discredited as soon as anyone notices I'm a believer.
Randy Heffner
Jacob, I would offer a first thought in response to your question by saying that, however you enter into the discussion, you must come across as "not your ordinary Christian." I have found that I can often make connection by agreeing with some way that another person finds fault with Christians (it's usually not hard to do, unfortunately).
Randy Heffner
Thanks, Byron — important books to be aware of. Os Guinness wrote in the same vein in 2008 (
The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends on It
).
We
should
be troubled by use of the phrase "separation of church and state," especially since the Constitution's focus is on non-establishment instead. Perhaps better phrasing might have been "establishment of
religious beliefs
." Atheism and secular humanism easily classify as religious beliefs, in that they are beliefs about religious/spiritual questions. In his book
Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe
, Harvard’s humanist chaplain says basically as much. While there is, of course, great variability in specific non-theistic beliefs (the same is true of Christian beliefs), the Humanist Manifesto (at americanhumanist.org) certainly qualifies as a codification of a minimum set of beliefs.
If we (properly) include non-theistic beliefs within the scope of the Establishment Clause, the central focus becomes respect for others' beliefs (i.e., love) rather than protection from hegemony. Let me offer one specific, possible, practical outcome: In the Ten Commandments monument controversy, rather than rip down Roy Moore's monument, I would have had us invite other major belief systems to place beside it monuments to
their
foundations for morality and human goodness. This would be a move toward a rich and pluralistic public square.
In the public square, to argue for a particular law using religious tenets as one's justification amounts to seeking establishment and hegemony. If our arguments in the public square boil down to "enact this law because God says," then we have not sufficiently understood the heart of God and why His ways are so. In a manner of speaking, special revelation may be the basis for our decision to advocate for a law, but general revelation should be the basis of our public arguments for it.
Darren Maybee
Why do you guys trash the former generation of great Christians like Jerry Falwell? I guess you think the only way you will make friends with unsaved is to bad mouth the real Christians. Good luck with that plan. God knows our hearts.
Martha Bergin
Randy, thank you for your comment. You gave me a lot to think about. I'll look into the concept of non-establishment. I've often wondered why we aren't solving the conflicts about public displays by inviting "other major belief systems to place beside it monuments to their foundations for morality and human goodness." Personally, I think it's a great idea. Better to have an interfaith dialogue about spiritual life and morality rather than to BAN the subjects entirely! --Some people would probably react in fear. (What if Muslims created some type of monument?, etc.) It gets me to wondering why the folks who fear such exchanges don't have more confidence that, after all is said and done, the Good News is the most powerful, true and hopeful message there is. I think such dialogue gives Christians opportunities to witness on many levels.
On the other hand, our culture seems to be slowly losing its capacity for civil discourse. I'm wondering whether interfaith conversations would go into a similar down-cycle, or whether talking about our deepest moral beliefs would help us co-create a better, more respectful public discourse.
Randy Heffner
Martha - you raise the point that really causes me pain: "our culture seems to be slowly losing its capacity for civil discourse." In relation to this, I've heard Andy Crouch refer to our "yum or yuck" culture which, in political discourse, too often works itself out in comments of the "if you don't agree with me you're just stupid" sort — and very often from the mouths of Christians. This type of dialog seeks an ugly form of hegemony, wherein I don't care to understand you, and I don't even care if you understand me, I just want my laws enacted (or whatever).
Perhaps a question to ask as we enter into any public dialog is, "how will my contribution be one that is infused with love and respect for all?" — from the vein in which love seeks first to understand, not to be understood (St. Francis). Simple sounding, yeah, but it is a simple truth of which we are in dire need of prominent examples in the public square.
And, pursuit of real understanding may well help our simplistic "sound bite political solutions" (from both sides) develop into something that simultaneously cares for those in (true) need
and
recognizes the often unexpected effects of public policy on human behavior (especially public policies involving entitlement and wealth redistribution).
Comments are now closed
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