Does religious freedom America weaken? – juicy ecumenism

During the last fall based on Washington, a DC cerebral trust dedicated to the implementation of Judeo-Christian moral tradition to the critical issues of public policy raised the question “Has religious freedom America weakened?”

Host the Center for Ethics and Public Policy, the debate between First things Editor Rusty Reno and President Research Foundation and Co -founder of Avik Roy was last in a series entitled Crossroads of Conservatism.

Renault, a previous professor of theology and ethics, claims that Christianity should be central. Roy defended the religious pluralism and tolerance he maintained, strengthened Christianity.

Moreover, while Renault attributes the social problems of our day – including the decreasing working ethics, the destruction of the family and the rise of the families of a parent – to the weakening Christianity, along with the increasing secularism, Roy attributes them to technological changes, the transition to the Keynesian economy and secularization , forced by the courts.

Renault’s thesis depends on the need for a united Christian consensus.

“The lack of a strong religious consensus gives rise to a weak civic culture that cannot be united by citizens, which in turn produces polarized, frying policy,” First things Editor diagnosed.

Turning to the founding of America, Renault noted the farewell address of George Washington, as well as the general sentiment of the founders, believes that classical liberalism is based on religious foundations. More consistent, the religious basis is Christianity. Quoting the concept of French political philosopher Alexis Detokkevil that the summoning of divine laws leads to freedom, Renault claims that the weakening of the predominance and influence of Christianity decreases the genius of America.

In the rebuttal, Roy claims that America has only come out of World War II as a superpower because of its religious pluralism and tolerance. As immigrants to religiously tolerant America, Edward Teller and Albert Einstein were adult Jewish refugees critical of the development of the atomic bomb. If Germany had first developed atomic weapons, the story would have been much more different, America would have been much more free and millions of more lives would have been lost.

“The embrace of the United States from religious diversity literally changed the course of history,” Roy said.

Roy closed his opening speech with a passage written by his opponent Reno, reminding the audience of the atrocities throughout the history of the pursuit of the Jews. Judaism remains even like the Roman Empire, which fired Jerusalem, the Third Reich responsible for the Holocaust, the European Monarchies, who force the Jews in Poland and all the other peoples and ideologies that pursued Jewish people are dust.

The pursuit of single religious groups insists Roy, leads to serious evil, while ironically, religious groups are the only ones who really survive.

Renault called secularism and reduced Christianity as the causes of modern social problems. Referring to Lebanon and India, First things The editor claims that religious diversity often leads to a conflict that discredit religion, leads to secularism and undermines the foundations of society. In addition, Renault claims from personal experience that diversity is a challenge, not an asset. He explained the danger that he faces that he raises religiously cool children, as his wife is Jewish and Protestant. He claims that the faces who believe in the truth of their religion can be tolerant and accept other views, but they cannot pretend that their diversity or views are a good thing.

“Those of us who take the Christian faith seriously have the most to benefit from religious freedom, and more special than building a political coalition that appeals to Americans from all the religions that share our values,” Renault contrasts. Referring to Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith, Roy claims that religion is intensified by competition. The witness and the depth of the church are far healthier when competition requires it to convince.

Roy also pointed out the lack of empirical evidence showing that religious diversity led to polarizing social problems today. He claims that Renault’s position lacks sufficient support, especially since leading to depersonalization of peoples through the state, if they do not agree with the definition of the majority or Renault as the “right religion”.

Instead, Roy struck that the economic policies that create the state of well -being contribute to raising families with one parent. Although well -meaning in the hope of easeing the harsh economic realities for children outside marriage, government intervention has created more than the situation it intends to repair itself. In addition, the rotation of the Keynesian economy, which gives priority to consumption, above all, erodes the future oriented society.

Despite the opinion of the consequences, Roy claims that technology has changed the role of women in society. While the contraception gets the most attention, the technology that eliminates the seizure of time for household cases, such as the dishwasher and the washing machine, enabled women to enter the workforce. Roy pointed to the empirical causes of today’s polarization, not just a turn to secularism.

Still, Roy did not dispute that secularization created social issues, with the courts mistakenly interpreting the first correction to limit religious freedom. While Roy offers empirical causes for our polarizing problems, perhaps secularism, condemned by Renault, plays a role in the reasons. Although the two do not agree whether Christianity or any religion should have an advantage, nor did it question the positive effects of Christianity and neither discuss whether our nation extracted at least some greatness from its religious basis.

Discover comments

Discover tags