The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in AmericaWm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1986 - 280 pages Underlying the many crises in American life, writes Richard John Neuhaus, is a crisis of faith. It is not enough that more people should believe or that those who believe should believe more strongly. Rather, the faith of persons and communities must be more compellingly related to the public arena. "The naked public square"--which results from the exclusion of popular values from the public forum--will almost certainly result in the death of democracy. The great challenge, says Neuhaus, is the reconstruction of a public philosophy that can undergird American life and America's ambiguous place in the world. To be truly democratic and to endure, such a public philosophy must be grounded in values that are based on Judeo-Christian religion. The remedy begins with recognizing that democratic theory and practice, which have in the past often been indifferent or hostile to religion, must now be legitimated in terms compatible with biblical faith. Neuhaus explores the strengths and weaknesses of various sectors of American religion in pursuing this task of critical legitimation. Arguing that America is now engaged in an historic moment of testing, he draws upon Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish thinkers who have in other moments of testing seen that the stakes are very high--for America, for the promise of democratic freedom elsewhere, and possibly for God's purpose in the world. An honest analysis of the situation, says Neuhaus, shatters false polarizations between left and right, liberal and conservative. In a democratic culture, the believer's respect for nonbelievers is not a compromise but a requirement of the believer's faith. Similarly, the democratic rights of those outside the communities of religious faith can be assured only by the inclusion of religiously-grounded values in the common life. The Naked Public Square does not offer yet another partisan program for political of social change. Rather, it offers a deeply disturbing, but finally hopeful, examination of Abraham Lincoln's century-old question--whether this nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. |
Table des matières
| 3 | |
| 20 | |
| 38 | |
| 55 | |
| 78 | |
Denying Who We Are | 94 |
The Morality of Compromise | 114 |
Private Morality Public Virtue | 129 |
Invoking the Nightmares We Fear | 177 |
A Proposition on Trial | 189 |
The Captivities of the Mainline | 202 |
For the World against the World | 213 |
Class Warfare among the Saints | 226 |
Law and the Experiment Renewes | 248 |
Endnotes | 265 |
Index | 277 |
Autres éditions - Tout afficher
The Naked Public Square: Religion and Democracy in America Richard John Neuhaus Affichage d'extraits - 1988 |
Expressions et termes fréquents
actors American experiment American religion assertion authoritarian become believe Bible prophecy biblical called Catholic century challenge Christ Christian America civil civil religion claim compromise conflict conservative course court critical culture debate declared democratic discourse ecumenical elite engaged ethic evangelical fact faith forces freedom fundamentalist God's gospel happen human idea influence instance institutions issues Jerry Falwell John Courtney Murray Judeo-Christian justice kingdom leaders leadership liberal democracy living Lutheran mainline Protestantism meaning ment Methodist modern moral judgment moral majoritarians Moral Majority moral sentiments movement naked public square nation person political proposition Protestant Protestantism public arena purpose question reality reason recognize religious new right Richard John Neuhaus role rule secular humanism secular society secularists sense social Social Gospel speak suggest theology theory things thought tions totalitarianism tradition transcendent truth understanding values Vietnam virtue vision wrong
Fréquemment cités
Page 75 - I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it." I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Page 101 - When the state encourages religious instruction or cooperates with religious authorities by adjusting the schedule of public events to sectarian needs, it follows the best of our traditions. For it then respects the religious nature of our people and accommodates the public service to their spiritual needs.
Page 78 - ... all of God's children — black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics — will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
Page 78 - tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountain side, let freedom ring.
Page 129 - The martyr first, whose eagle eye Could pierce beyond the grave, Who saw his Master in the sky, And called on Him to save. Like Him, with pardon on His tongue, In midst of mortal pain, He prayed for them that did the wrong; Who follows in His train?
Page 100 - We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being. We guarantee the freedom to worship as one chooses. We make room for as wide a variety of beliefs and creeds as the spiritual needs of man deem necessary. We sponsor an attitude on the part of government that shows no partiality to any one group and that lets each flourish according to the zeal of its adherents and the appeal of its dogma.
Page 28 - How small of all that human hearts endure, That part which laws or kings can cause or cure.
Page 135 - The influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame within their particular States but will be unable to spread a general conflagration through the other States.
Page 135 - A rage for paper money, for an abolition of debts, for an equal division of property, or for any other improper or wicked project, will be less apt to pervade the whole body of the union, than a particular member of it...
Page 74 - I hate the idea of causes, and if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.