Christian voices in the public squareHow much is too much?

Monday 2 April 2012

CCL Open Night

‘CHRISTIAN VOICES’:

in Advocacy

… in the formal sphere of politics and

parliamentary deliberation about law

in Commentary

in the sphere of „civil society‟

in Evangelism

SOME SLOGANS …

„separate church and state‟

„separate religion and politics‟

„don‟t impose your values/beliefs on me‟

„get your religion off my body‟

„religion poisons everything‟

‘HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?’

‘anything’ ‘no such thing’

‘programmatic secularism’ ‘theonomy’‘doctrinaire secularism’ ‘theocracy’

… both totalitarian

Secular vs. Secularism

… originally used by Christians for „this age‟

… but now changed to mean „non-religious‟

Volf: secularism „a set of related values and truth-

claims partly inherited selectively from the tradition,

partly generated by the marketplace, and partly

drawn from the hard sciences. The marketplace

enthrones personal preference as the paramount

value, and the hard sciences offer explanations using

inner-worldy causalities as the only truth.‟

‘WE’RE ALL LIBERALS NOW’

(programmatic secularism) liberalism (theonomy)

(1) freedom for each person to live in accordance with

his or her own interpretation of life(or lack of it)

(2) the state‟s neutrality with respect to all such

perspectives on life (Volf)

‘WE’RE ALL LIBERALS NOW’

‘procedural secularism’

„seeks to allow all faith perspectives equal access to

the public realm but claims to confer no political

privilege on any.‟ (Chaplin)

a) The King called Christ

THE CHRISTIAN CASE FOR LIBERALISM

a) The King called Christ

Roles of king and saviour “were combined

uniquely by Christ and that it is thereafter

impossible for anyone else to hold both

offices. Their reunion awaits the coming of

Christ again. Therefore, a separation of the

two is an eschatological sign that

acknowledges the fallibility of human beings

and the need for the division of power.”

- David Fergusson

Differentiated authority:

The Church only has

authority to state the Word of

God in its teaching and

preaching. It points to the

future kingdom of Christ, and

to the way that kingdom

impacts the present.

a) The King

called Christ

a) The King

called Christ

Differentiated authority:

The State only has authority

to rule the present, with laws,

judgments and sentences. It

defends what is right in this

age, but is passing away,

and must never think that it

will somehow trump the

kingdom to come.

b) The Spirit of the King

“Those who live according to the sinful nature

have their minds set on what that nature desires;

but those who live in accordance with the Spirit

have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

The mind of the sinful person is death, but the

mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the

sinful mind is hostile to God.

It does not submit to God‟s law,

nor can it do so.”

- Romans 8:5-7

“The person without the Spirit does not accept

the things that come from the Spirit of God, for

they are foolishness to him, and he cannot

understand them, because they are spiritually

discerned.”

- 1 Corinthians 2:14

“Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law,

or by believing what you heard?”

- Galatians 3:1-2

… regulations that:

“lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence”

- Colossians 2:23

… BUT HOW?

‘procedural secularism’

‘reasonable pluralism’:find ‘neutral common ground’

‘justificatory liberalism’:the search for ‘public’ reasons

Tenets of justificatory liberalism:

Law is coercive

„Public reasons‟ needed for law

„strictly religious‟ reasons not public („reasons that

derive exclusively from some particular religious

perspective‟, R. Talisse)

… here is where we get the idea of „imposing beliefs‟

‘justificatory liberalism’:

‘exclusive’ vs ‘inclusive’

only mention reasons religious origins OK,that make sense to all but add reasons for all

The slogans are gag-rules arising from justificatory liberalism: you’ve failed the ‘public reason’ test

“Conscience votes have the potential to undermine

one of the defining principles of secular liberal

democracy: the separation of religion and politics…

When it comes to the issues of gay marriage,

euthanasia and abortion, [religion] functions as a

Trojan horse carrying sectional religious duties into

the party and the public office of the politician,

robbing them of the capacity to represent a general

electorate.”

Ryan Walter, 29/11/11, SMH.

CRITICS OF JUSTIFICATORY LIBERALISM:

a) Assumes „common ground‟ can be found

b) Disenfranchises deeply religious citizens

c) Privileges an atheistic style of discourse

- veiling real reasons

- living dissonantly

d) Conformist: excludes radical and

unexpected

e) Demands a 'right voice', rather respectful

reciprocity

f) Is illiberal!

AN ALTERNATIVE LIBERALISM?

agonistic reciprocity‘critical tolerance’

noisy pluralism

… but always oriented to serve moral purpose of the state: ‘common good’

Volf: ‘gifts’ of ‘wisdom’

WHY SO MESSY?

a) A shared natural environment

WHY SO MESSY?

a) A shared natural environment

b) ‘Objects of love’

WHY SO MESSY?

Talking Godby Jonathon Chaplin

www.theosthinktank.co.uk

Francis J Beckwith,

Politics for Christians:

Statecraft as Soulcraft

InterVarsity Press, 2011.

Miroslav Volf,

A Public Faith: How followers of

Christ should serve

the common good

Brazos Press, Baker

Publishing Group, 2011.

Thank you for joining us.

www.ccl.moore.edu.au for

more information