Democracy and Religion

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• Democracy and Religion
• In the United States
• MR DOUG PERKINS

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SOME NEWS
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ROUSSEAUs CIVIL RELIGION

• Civil Profession of Faith
• Belief in moral code, social conscience
• Dogmas
• Existence of an omnipotent, intelligent,
  benevolent provider
• Life to come
• Happiness of the just
• Punishment of sinners
• Sanctity of the social contract and the law
• No intolerance.
• Enlightenment?

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DISCUSSION POINTS

• Hierarchies and Democracy
• Is Coexistence Possible
• Positive Effects
• Negative Effects
• Tolerance and Democracy
• Was Rousseau Right?
• Intolerance of Intolerance
• What, Exactly, Should We Tolerate?
• Offensive Practices?
• Offensive Doctrines?
• Fundamentalists vs. Extremists
• Can Polarized Groups Work Together?
• How?
• Capital vs. Labor
• Religion/Secularism in Netherlands
• What is the proper relationship between church
  and state, politics and religion

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THREE QUESTIONS

• How far can a democratic polity go in permitting
  religiously motivated behavior that is contrary
  to societal welfare or norms?
• Should the state encourage and promote consensual
  religious beliefs and traditions in an attempt to
  support the common values and beliefs that that
  bind a society together and make possible
  limited, democratic government?
• When religious groups and the state are both
  active in the same fields of endeavor, how can
  one ensure that the state does not advantage or
  disadvantage any one religious group or either
  religion or nonreligion over the other?

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THREE MODELS

• Strict Church-State Separation
• United States
• Pluralist or Structural-Pluralist
• Netherlands, Australia, Germany?
• Established Church
• England, Germany?

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UNITED STATESFREE EXERCISE AND ESTABLISHMENT
CLAUSES

• First Amendment to Constitution
• Congress shall make no law respecting an
  establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
  free exercise thereof
• Establishment Clause
• Structural restraint on government
• Jefferson erect a wall of separation of church
  and state
• Free Exercise Clause
• Safeguard individual rights

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THE US

• Religiously Diverse
• High Rate of Religious Activity and Membership
• (Look at Data)
• The Role of the Constitution
• The Role of the Court

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http//www.umich.edu/nes/nesguide/nesguide.htm
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Religious Guidance in Day-to-Day Living 1980-2000
Religion an Important Part of Life 1980-2000
Church Attendance (1), 4 categories 1952-1968
Church Attendance (2), 5 categories 1970-2000
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Religion of Respondent (1), 4 categories 1948-2000
Religion of Respondent (2), 7 categories
1960-1988
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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• Establishment of Religion
• 17th-mid18th Centuries
• State Religions
• Disestablishment of Religion
• Great Awakening (1740 - )
• Enlightenment Liberal Rationalists
• No more taxes to support religion
• Religion Ebbing (10!)
• Reestablishment
• 1800-1950
• Second Great Awakening
• Protestantism Unofficial Religion
• Redisestablishment?
• 1950
• Enlightened Supreme Court
• Why?

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WHY ENLIGHTENMENT?

• Cultural Dominance of Protestantism
• Catholics and Intellectuals Weak
• No need to find allies
• Anti-Catholic Fervor of Protestantism
• Intellectual Shallowness of Protestantism
• Populist
• Cooperated with liberals on education
• Mistrust of Catholics
• No Vigor to defend itself against modern
  theological trends

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THE FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGION

• How far should it be allowed to go?
• Polygamy in 1870s
• Beliefs are protected, not actions
• Secular regulation rule
• Peyote? Animal sacrifice/slaughter?
• Does not assert positive rights
• Would require state support where secular
  competition received state support

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QUESTIONS???