Recently, much has been written and said about the nature of faith and the public sphere. Questions about the faith and values of Presidential candidates are ubiquitous. Let me just enumerate several examples (This is not an exhaustive list):
-- A faith, values, and poverty forum hosted by Sojourners and CNN with the top Democratic Presidential Candidates.
-- Huckabee's statement about God and the Constitution.
-- Mitt Romney feeling compelled to give a speech at the George Bush Presidential Library on his faith and presidential candidacy.
-- Several recent books about the issue, Mark Tolouise's "God in Public", Jim Wallis' books "God in not A Republican or A Democrat" and "The Great Awakening.."
-- Numerous articles in the press about Evangelicals and their shifting voting practices.
-- Questions and false statements on the internet about Barack Obama's faith heritage. He is a Christian and some have said he is Muslim as if one or the other better qualifies him for being a President.
-- Pat Robertson's endorsement of Mayor Rudy Giuliani,
This is such a dominant topic that I even wrote an op-ed piece as a guest columnist about it in the Spanish language press "El Diario/La Prensa." For me the issue as N.T. Wright has said is for the nation to discuss the appropriate role of faith in the public sphere. Certainly, we have some direction from the U.S Constitution when it says ( I am paraphrasing), "Government shall not establish any religion nor prohibit the free exercise thereof."
For me, the paradox is simple: people of faith should feel free to influence the democratic process. This is true of any group, not just people of faith, but also atheists, agnostics, and any other group that has the same democratic freedom. The paradox is not complicated. People's beliefs (whether they are people of faith or hold to different worldviews) influence their understanding of politics and public issues they are free to share this in the public sphere without imposing it on anyone.
What the Constitution requires is respect and a fair hearing from all perspectives. No group religious or otherwise should have the only say on how government should run. Still each should have a say. In short, faith has a place in the public sphere but not at the expense of other world views. Neither should any other perspective silence the faith perspective. This is a question of dialogue and reasoned debate.
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