Faith and Politics

First Quarter 2000

Editor's Watch

by James W. Skillen

Bill Bradley was once a vocal evangelical. George W. Bush says he is a born-again Christian. Other candidates have let us know where they stand. Yet what are the implications of one's faith for politics, for one's view of government? This is the question that will concern us in all four issues of this year's Public Justice Report.

In the lead article the editors begin by focusing on government's relation to the family, schooling, and other institutions in the so-called social sector. What we should most want to know about political candidates is how they think government should act in relation to these institutions and organizations. How they think will depend on their political philosophy, which will depend on the content of their faith.

Perhaps the most fundamental question about faith and politics has to do with what one means by religion (or non-religion). Two books reviewed on pages 4-5 take up this subject. One explores the reasons for, and the meaning of, the religion clauses of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. One reason why we have constitutionally limited government is because most of the American founders believed that people owed ultimate allegiance to God, not to the state. And one reason many of them thought in these terms was because of their debt to John Calvin, whose understanding of freedom—including political freedom—shaped the Puritans and other early colonists. Calvin's view of politics and liberty is the subject of the second book under review.

What constitutes religion is also the subject of the subsequent article on "the secularization hypothesis." Even though there is more and more talk about religion these days—both in the United States and around the world—most Americans still think of religion as a separate category alongside work, sports, family, and shopping. God gets attention in church and prayer groups. Politics, if not all the rest of life, is a secular business. Yet what kind of perspective undergirds this division of life between sacred and secular? It is the perspective of another faith, a religion of its own, coming not from Christianity but from the modern Enlightenment.

One of the most basic responsibilities that people of all faiths take for granted is that of teaching their view of life to their children. In the very teaching of language, for example, whether intended or not, parents shape their children's view of the world: as God's creation or as an accidental universe, as a place where neighbors matter or where they are just in the way. This is education! And in most cases education includes schooling. Thus, one's faith will also lead to a conclusion about how government should relate to families and schools. This is one of the hottest political topics today and it comes to the fore in a discussion of two new books on pp. 8-9.

Another concern of many (though not enough) Americans today is the plight of the poor—those without medical insurance, without jobs, without communities of care surrounding them. For many Christians, faith leads them to give direct assistance to those in need. But what, if any, role should government play? Certainly government's policies on taxation, education, welfare, and child support have a bearing on poverty. So once again we are driven back to the connection between faith and politics (see pp. 10-11).

How does your faith guide your politics? We hope this and the next three issues of the Report will help you think through some of the most important issues of contemporary politics as you prepare to vote on November 7.