Religious Discourse Goes Public: Perspectives from a Christian Theologian

This essay explores the absolute private/public disjunction, together with the derived radical religious/secular dichotomy, which is the foundation of modern liberal political theory. It argues that in a pluralistic democracy, it does not seem equal or reasonable to ask people to bracket their religious convictions and ideals when engaging in liberal democracy, and substitute for them "the limits of public reason" advocated by political liberals. Civility and mutual respect are not based on a common political basis, but on the proper functioning of political persuasion and the democratic process of a legislative session. If the ultimate goal of political argument in the public forum is to come to agreement on the matter at hand, an inclusivist ideal by being less restrictive in a pluralistic democracy will allow all citizens to express themselves and their deepest values more fully in the political sphere. It finally argues that both religion and the public forum need each other and will greatly benefit from allowing religious voices in the public forum. The essay does not favour the Christian religion when arguing for religious voices in the public forum, even when it at times argues from specifically contemporary Christian theological perspectives.