Democratic states must protect the liberty
of citizens and must accommodate both religious liberty and cultural diversity.
This democratic imperative is one reason for the increasing secularity of most
modern democracies. Religious citizens, however, commonly see a secular state as
unfriendly toward religion. This book articulates principles that enable secular
governments to protect liberty in a way that judiciously separates church and
state and fully respects religious citizens. After presenting a brief account of
the relation between religion and ethics, the book shows how ethics can be
independent of religion-evidentially autonomous in a way that makes moral
knowledge possible for secular citizens-without denying religious sources a
moral authority of their own. With this account in view, it portrays a
church-state separation that requires governments not only to avoid religious
establishment but also to maintain religious neutrality. The book shows how
religious neutrality is related to such issues as teaching evolutionary biology
in public schools, the legitimacy of vouchers to fund private schooling, and
governmental support of "faith-based initiatives." The final chapter shows how
the proposed theory of religion and politics incorporates toleration and
forgiveness as elements in flourishing democracies. Tolerance and forgiveness
are described; their role in democratic citizenship is clarified; and in this
light a conception of civic virtue is proposed. Overall, the book advances the
theory of liberal democracy, clarifies the relation between religion and ethics,
provides distinctive principles governing religion in politics, and provides a
theory of toleration for pluralistic societies. It frames institutional
principles to guide governmental policy toward religion; it articulates
citizenship standards for political conduct by individuals; it examines the case
for affirming these two kinds of standards on the basis of what, historically,
has been called natural reason; and it defends an account of toleration that
enhances the practical application of the ethical framework both in individual
nations and in the international realm.
