Subject: [AthofSV] About Atheism - Why Religion and Politics Don't Mix

From: "isaacjs22000" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 21:07:53 -0000

http://atheism.about.com/b/a/158066.htm?nl=1

April 05, 2005
Austin Cline

Why Religion and Politics Don't Mix

Religious conservatives like to argue that we shouldn't be worried
about mixing religion and politics (which, of course, always really
means their religion and politics being mixed). The problem is, they
are unable to articulate why such mixing is a good thing. They can't
even fairly and accurately describe what the opposing arguments are.

Edward Feser is a good example of this failure, writing:

    The problem, in the view of many liberals, is that religious
considerations are matters of faith, where "faith" connotes in their
minds a kind of groundless commitment, a will to believe that for
which there is no objective evidence. Opinions on matters of public
policy, they would say, can only appropriately be arrived at via
methods of argument assessable by all members of the political
community, not by reference to the idiosyncratic and subjective
feelings of a minority. 

It's ironic that Feser complains about liberals who use straw man
arguments against mixing religion and politics because, on a generous
reading, the above is a massive straw man (a less generous reading
would be that he probably knows better and, hence, is simply lying).

Why is this a straw man argument? Because what Feser describes isn't
the argument against mixing religion and politics. Some people may
occasionally say something like this, but it isn't the basic argument
typically used in politicians and philosophers.

What is the real argument, the argument that Feser steadfastly ignores
in his efforts to demonstrate that theism is rational? It's not that
religious faith is "irrational" but, rather, that religious faith is
"personal."

If you believe that the Bible provides answers to political questions,
the problem isn't whether that is rational or not (there are plenty of
non-religious ideologies that are irrational). The problem is the fact
that this belief is based upon the private notion that the Bible is a
"revelation" from God. The label "private" here doesn't mean "kept
secret." It is better understood as contrasted with the subjects of
political policy debates.

Thus, to say that religious faith doesn't belong in politics is to say
that the status of the Bible (word of God? inspired by God?) and how
to interpret it (literally? metaphorically?) should not become
subjects of political debates or policy decisions. Other, secular
philosophies can — but religious faith cannot.

This is why there is a "separation of church and state" but not, as
Feser complains, a "separation of feminist theory and state."
Philosophies like feminist theory can be debated in politics and the
state can take sides in feminist theory. The status of the Bible
cannot be debated in politics and the state cannot take sides in how
the Bible should be interpreted. Such issues are subjects of private
religious faith, not public reasoning.

This is the real reason why we should avoid mixing religion and
politics. This is what Edward Feser studiously avoids addressing. Why
do you suppose that is? Perhaps because he has no argument against it.

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