...with liberty and justice for all- toward tolerant public dis

Volume 12-4-2008 "...with liberty and justice for all": toward tolerant public discourse Zona Douthit Roger Williams University Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.rwu.edu/r

Volume 1

2-4-2008

" with liberty and justice for all": toward tolerant

public discourse

Zona Douthit

Roger Williams University

Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.rwu.edu/rr

Copyright ©2-4-2008 by the authors

Reason and Respect is produced by The Berkeley Electronic Press (bepress)

For more information, please contactmwu@rwu.edu

Recommended Citation

Douthit, Zona (2005) "" with liberty and justice for all": toward tolerant public discourse," Reason and Respect: Vol 1: Iss 2, Article

11

Available at:http://docs.rwu.edu/rr/vol1/iss2/11

RE SPECT

Toward Tolerant Public Discourse

Zona Douthi t De pa rtment of Writin g S tu die s Every Amercan who hears the words Liberty ndjustice isinstinctively warmed b their rranscendent glow

These words make the patriotic bre st swellwith pride and conjure the image of th se RevolurionaryWar

veterans limping alo g playing their fifeand drum, flagrppling in the breeze The words f re edom , r ig hts ,

e qual y , de m o ra cy , andjustice , among others, havebeen elevated toan almost spiritual plane, evenasmeta

-phors for the United States

This paper wi examine the titles of several conservative and pro ressive religious and poli c l

organiz tions ro demonstrate how some rhetors are distortn the lexicon ofcivil religion to confate sectarian

beliefs with politc l ambirions While there isnothing inherently sinister about promoting sectarian belefs,

intentio aly failing to differentiate between religio and poltics muddies the p blic discourse and can be a

means to just Y intolerance toward opposing viewp ints The title ofan organization isperhaps the most

intentional rheroric itemploys Implying that "Go is on my side, an ifyou disagree with me, yo are

against God" sets up aneither/or choic that is inherently inrolerant

Furher, 1 wi review atheory of p l ical discourse fist proposed in 1986 It offers aframework fora

respectful public discussio that rob'ates diferences an builds asustainable diale tic dialogue

America's Civil Religion

In 1 67, Ro ert Bellah defined civil religio l to mean a religion of the polity that glor ies the politics and

history of aculture with patriotic rituals and quasi-religious imagery.2As Bellah ex lains, "[T]he American

civilreligion is not the worship oftheAmerican nation but an understanding of the American experience in

the lght of ultimate and universal re l y"(l3) I isevoked b venerarion ofpast leaders and w veterans, use

of public buildings for worship and todisplay symbols, and the in oc ton ofGod and use of religious texts at

-tive of deep-seated values and commitments" (Bellah 2)

American civil relgion celebrates past politic l leaders who embody the esence of the American ideal,

such asBenjamin Fran lin for hiswit and wisdom; George Washin ton and Martin Luther King for thei

co rage and leadership; andThomas Jefferson forhis curiosity and intelligence Traditio ally, stories about

such figures (thoug probably fictito s) are used to illustrate moralty Memorals toveterans and war

c sualties are fxtures in most American communities an the nation's capitol Civil relgion also requires

public display of symbols, forexample "Old Glory"-a symbol ofAmeric n ideals that beles a simple defini

tio While the Consttution protects against astate religio , Con ress begins every day with a prayer, and

every President since Washingto has sworn "so help me God" athis inau uration

But most importantly, Americ 's civilrelgion isnot tied to the creed of any particular taditional

religion Belah observes that "civilreligion atitsbest is agenuine apprehension of universal an tanscendent

relgio s re lity as seen in or,o e could almost say, asrevealed through the ex erience of the American people"

(9).But because it "servestomobilize support for the atainment of natio al goals," it iseasilymanipulated b

rhetors to induce a patriotic fe lng inthe p blc in order "to attack nonconformist and liberal ideas and

U7ehoLd th ese tr uths t o b e se/fe v id en t : th a t aLLm e n are c reat e d equ a l th at the y a re endo w e b

th e i r C rea t or with ce rt ain ina L ie nabLe ri g htj' , amo n th ese Lif t, L i b rt y an d th e u r u i t of hap p in ess U7e s o Lemn l y u bL i sh a nd d e clare , th a t th ese c Lo i e s a r e a nd o f right ought to b e fre e

a d indep e ndent s t ates .

With the first bre th ofindepen enc , America began the lexicon of civil eligion Not only did Jefferson

write of equality, inalienable rights, liberty, freed m an independence, he acknowledged that a Supreme

Being endowed those rights on man "Divine providence," stemming from au iversal g ardianship beyond

human experience, makes them inalienable.4

In ade laration even more deviant from the 1 'hcentury n rm of divine sovereignty, the Preamble to the Constiuto states:

We the Peo le of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Unio , establish Justice,

insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establsh this Constitution for the United States of Amerca

Thus the Co stitution steps further awayfrom divine sovereignty Here, the source ofauthority forliberty

and justice isthe Union of the People

Durng the Second Great Awakening, an evangelical revival movement of the early 1 'hCentury, the

concept that the Declaration ofIndependenc and the Constitution were inspired by the Christian u der

-standing ofGod swept over America When the great orator Daniel Webster created a"narrative of nat

ion-hood," calling the Founding Fathers our "spiriual fathers" (6 ), his lsteners, who would havebe n almost

entirely ofEuropean descent, connected that spirituality wih Chrstianity Webster's goal was to preserve the

Union of the United States against parochial secessionism Tod this he glorifed the my tho sofAmerica as an

idea rather than aplace and gave it aspiritual, and for him a Christian, patina

Since the Civil War, "the theme ofsacrifice [has]been added to American Civil religio " (Pierard 112) "The ideathat sacrifice was 'sacred' because it urthered America's God-given purpose as a model of

h man liberty and equality" (Pierard 112) has been apowerful rhetorical tool of every politician advocating

war since Glorifying sacrifice in war has alsobeen used to silenc questioning the justness of the war

The 20'hcentury civil rights movement was "morallybasedand politicaly in ependent" (Walis 64), but appeared to be a Chrstian movement because i arose from the pulpits of so many Blackchurches Itsgreat

spokesman, Rev Martin Luther King, Jr., famously used the imagery and cadence of the pulpi toexpress

universal ideals about freedom and equality In"Letter from Birmingham Jail"he declared that "the goal of

America is freedom," and coupled freed m with God's tanscendent will:"We willwin our freedom because the

sa red heritage of our nation and the eternal willofGod are embo ied in our echoing demands" (qtd in Carson

2 2) The letter was intended to prick the consciences ofhisfellowclergy and make them recogniz that equality

was sacred,and therefore the right to freedom wasimmediate an just He wasa Christian minister who wanted

to change specificlaws,but his rhetoric was straightforward and intentional, never ambiguous or de eitful

In 1979 Rev Jerry Falwell launched "n organization with a mission of organizing evangelical leaders"

to "boldly engage the culture." Calling himself "the father of the modern 'religious right' political movement,"

Falwell establshed the Moral Majority topromote "a pro-life, pro-traditional family, pro-national defense and

pro-Israel platform" ("Moral Majority") The rhetoric of this movement added the term "family values" to the

civil eligion lexicon For apolitician to ay to announce opposi on tofamiy values would be asshocking as

taking a stand against freedom and liberty or any ofthe other sacredwords ofthe lexicon

InM or aL P o Li t o ' cognitive linguist George Lakoff explains what "family values"means toconservatives and liberals Because politics hasa"moral, mythic an emotional dimension," conservatives have turned family

into ametaphor forg vernment (19) While all politicians describe their policies aspro-family, theymean very

different things b the term Lakof says conservatives think ofthe family/government asahierarchy, led by a

strict father who imposes discipline inorder to raisechildren wh are obedient, self-sufficient and respect

"legitimate authority" (33).Althou h not necessarilyarticulated as such, liberal policyis alsobasedon a £.'lmily

model, which Lakoffcalls the Nurturant Parent model because "[ ove,empathy, and nurturance are primary,

and children become respo sible, self-disciplined andsel reliant through being cared for,respected and caring

for others, b th in their familyand in their communities" (33) Lakoff's analysisilluminates why the "culture

war" has been fo ght with one sideslingin apples and theother oran es, leaving both sidesbewildered at the

other's response-particularly when considered within thecontext of civil religion'sev lution

The Fo nding Fathers' senseof freedom, equal y, independence, and inalenable rights wasbased in Enlightenment philosophy, out of which arose the concept that church and state be separate Not until the

19'hcentury did the ideals espoused in the Declaration ofIndependence and the Constituton become linked

with rhe pred minate relgion of the day, Christianity During the Civil War, the Christian principle of

sacrifice was added tothe vocabulary of civil discourse In the mid-20'h century, the civil rights movement

returned to the universal morality of the 18'h century b tying arguments for legal changes to the concepts of

justice, freedom, and equaliy to conscience rather than doctrine Thus has rhetoric evolved toshape public

discourse and policy

To ay, however, some poltically ambitious organizations are using the vocabulary of civil religion to

infer that patriotism and religion areinseparable They identify themselves with the words liberty, freedom

and American side-by-side with creedal words of raditional relgio , implying alink by mere proximity

without further explanation Thei intent seems clear: \YJeareright because God ison our side

Rubric Rhetoric

The examples below compare the titles of conservatives and liberal organizatio s and demonstate how

consetvatives combine words in their titles to imply aconnection between teligion, specifically Christianity,

and conservative poliical policy while liberals do no

Jerry Falwellfou ded Liberty Universiy with the goal of producing "Chrst-centered men and

women with the values, knowledge, and skillsrequired to impact tomorow's world" ("Liberty University")

Currently he heads the "Libery Alliance, o e of [his]affiliate organizations that is dedi cared to promoting

Judeo-Christian values inthe political realm thro gh lo bying effons"("Alliance") The websites do not define

"libery," leaving its connection with the Christian mission implied, but they do provide electronic links to

each other Bynaming hisorganizations "Libery" Falwellseemingly suggests that Christianity and libery, a

core value inAmerican's civil religion, are the same thing

Compare this to the progressive Christian organization, Sojourners, a"Chrstian ministry whose

mission is to proclaim and practice the biblical calltointegrate spiritual renewal and social ustice" ("

Sojourn-ers") Itsname is derived from "[the biblical metaphor 'sojourners' [hat identifes God's people as

pil-grims-fully present in the world but committed to adifferent order " The name isintended to reflect

expanding "exploration of is ues offaith, poltics, and culture as well asministry to the poor ("Sojourners")

Sojourners uses the word "justice" to define their misio , but i is modified by"social." Socialjustice

is a moral concept sometimes ato ds with legal justice, which is about following accepted laws (The death

penalty debate is astark example ofthis dichotomy.) In civi religio , the word "justice" isusually used

witho t a modifier, leaving ito en to ambiguity That the Sojourners defines its mission asone ofsocial or

moral justice clearlystates its intent

Two prominent conservative organizations that exist to influence the p litic l agenda alsosuggest a connection between the words ofcivil and taditional religion The Family Research Council isan organiza

-tion dedicated to "Defen ing Faih, Family and Freedom" by shaping "public debate and formulat[ing] public

policy" (FRe) Amercan Valuesis"a non-prof organization committed to unitin theAmerican people

around the vision of our Founding Fathers" with the subtitle "Your Voic to Help to Protect Life, Marriage,

Famiy, Faith, and Freedom" (American Values) Both organizatons link "freed m" with family and faith

Ton Perkins ofFRC and Gary Bauer ofAmeric n Values areboth pol icians, n t theologians.5

In contrast, the titles oft"vo prominent lberal political organizatio s make no religio s connection

The rubric of MoveOn.org is"Democra y in Action" (MoveOn) People for the American Way defines itself

as "an energetic advocate for the values and institutions that sustain adiverse democratic society" (PFAW)

Both are clearlynot affiliated with any relgio s organizato , nor do they atempt toalgn themselves with

any par cular relgious creed

Donations to both liberal groups are not taxdeductble, while d nations to b th conservative groups are The websites offerno explanation for their deductible statUS (FRC "Contribute," Americ n Values"Contrib

-ute") Rev Falwell'sLibertyAlliance is,h wever, "a not forprofit educational and lobb ing organization It isan

IRS recognized 5 1 (c)(4) corporation charered inWashingto , D.C that isallowed tolobby Congres and

influence legislation" ("Alliance") The titles and taxstatus oftheco servative organizations are confusing,

making itdifficult to discern which is areligio s group, i.e., a char able one, and which ispolitical

The firstg arantee in the Bil of Rights is that Congress wil n t establish a state-sponsored religion

Grou s that commingle the words of traditonal and civilreligion evoke in those wh disagree with their

p litical philosophy Orwellian visions of intolerance and control It is time to consider amethod ofpublic

policy debate that clearly distin uishes public issues from perso al beliefs

"Fr om C ivi l Re l igion t o Publ i c Ph il osophy "

In his 1986 esay "From Civil Religion to Public Philosophy," Christian theologian Richard John Neuhaus

suggested that our civil religion be repla ed by anew public philosophy His proposal isas vigorous an

imperative to ay as it was almost twenty years ago.6 He suggests apublic p ilosophy where we"canprevent

our just c usesfom turning into h ly wars an our public philosophies from turning inco civil relgions"

(109).His model would require a democratic, pluralistic, religio sly auuned, critcally affirmative debate with

realistic expectations for resolving conAict (105)

The first requirement, democratic ptinciples, should be"marked byp pular, even populist

sympa-thies," but a democracy cannot function ifsome of the people "habitually cultvate contempt for the values of

the people whose livesthey would more ratio ally order" (105) Neuhaus argues that we sh uld relyon the

common wisdom of the "ordinary people (0 create a "normative ethic bywhich extreme propensities, inc

lud-ing populist pro ensities, can beheld incheck" (105) In other words, he en isio s ademocracy where every

voice is valued and heard

Further, this p blic philosophy requires pluralism in "which diferenc s areengaged in civilcontesta

-tion," embracing the idea that weare a"society of many societies, a community ofmany communi es," a

"people in their astonishingly diverseparticulariries" (106) The duty of the democratic state is to respect and

serve the multitude of its constituent communites The majority may rule, but itcannot silence the minority

Neuhaus reminds us that the United States is essentially "religiously attu ed" and warns against adopting an Enlightenment conceit "that religion either is withering away or could beneatly co fined to the

private sphere oflife" (106).7 Instead our public philosophy must be "historcally and socially rooted" because

spirituality elevates usabove the personal and material and lends moral authority to our political philosophy

(108) He invites traditional religions to engage "in the development of a mediating language, acommon

moral vocabulary to beshared bythose who are not of shared religious conviction" (107) AsLakoff's analysis

suggests, acknowledging that "family values" is amoral issuefor both sides would help toestablish such a

common moral vocabulary

In addition, public philosophy must also be "critically affirmative-that is,a cording to Neuhaus,

able to "both affirm and criticize this [American] experiment, prodding it ever so slowly and erratically (Oward

the fulfilment of its promise (108) Simply put, dissent gave birth to America and nourishes its growth

Dissent is an American value

And finally, Neuhaus cautions that o r public philosophy must be"modest in the ex ectatio s that it

raises.I will speak religiously of the American experience but itwil not make the American ex erience a

religion" (108) He warns against "social gospelers" at both ends of the political spectrum claiming to be

building a"Kingdom of God on earth" (108) Instead "[ he only religion that will help construct the public

philosoph that we need is the relgion that knows that all of our politics and all of our philosophies are, at

best, faint imui tio s of the City ofGod towhich we areall called" (l 09) He urges usn t tothink weare

creating perfection as we dabble in democracy We must "not besurprised bytimes oftesting but rather

recognize that testing is in the verynature of being an ex eriment" (108) Only through "ashared moral

discourse about rhe meaning of the social experiment of which weare part" can we hope to survive (108)

The single theme that underlies allcomponems of Neuhaus's public philosophy istolerance His paradigm

wo ld replace the malleable symbolsm ofcivil religion with a model in which respecr and tolerance are

integral because they are inclusive and acknowledge tradition while leaving room for criticism Rational debate

does n t occur without respect for the right (0 dissent

Intolerance does more damage to democra y than an weap n that merely destroys physical matter

On March 8, 2005 President Bushaddressed the Natonal Defense University about Islamist terrorism:

Itshould be clear that the best antidote toradicalism and terror is the tolerance and hope kindled in freesocieties And that goal is within reach, if allthe parries meet their responsibilities and if

terrorism isbrought (0an end Arab states must end incitement in their own media, CUtoff publc

an private funding for terrorism, stop their support forextremist education

America must assume the same responsibility In his recent book God's Politics,Christian theolo ian Jim Wal s

warns that President Bush "seems to make this mistake over and over again of confusing nation, church, and

god The resulting theology ismore an American civil relgion than Christian faith" (142) We cannot be a

beacon of democracy in the word bymaking faith a litmus test for patriotism Bydiscarding the ambigu us

terminology of civil religion, wec n debate issues,n t personalities or faith, and remain "one nation under

God"-even with those who disagree with us

IIn T h e S oc i al Con t r a ct, Jean-Jacque Rousseau was the fist to use the term "civil religion," but its meaning

has ev lved since 1762

2"This concept sometimes goes b other names-public, poli cal orsocietal religion; public piety; civic

faith; the common faith; theistic humanism; or inthe case ofthe United States, secularized Purianism, the

relgion ofthe republic, the Americ n Way,American Shinto, and often 'the Americ n Democratic Faith.'

Whatever o e calls it it refers tothe Widespread a ceptance by a people ofperceived politcal traits r

egard-ing their nato 's history and destiny" (Pierard 22)

3The author in noway intends to imply that this isan ex austive history of the evolution of the lexicon

of Americ 's civil religion

4For a concise, impartial history ofthe role relgion has played in American politcs, see "the Faih of Our

Fathers" in the 28 June isue of US News a n d W o r l d R e port, which quotes abook by the head ofthe

manuscript division of the Library of Congress, "[W]hether they were old-line Calvinists or liberal deists, the

Founders believed divine wil legitimized their instituto s and lawsand made citizens more wi ing to respect

them Even Thomas Jefferson, who thought most Americans would be ratio alist Unitarians within a

generation or two, considered the acknowled ment of providental authority essential topublic virtue"

(Tolson, 55-56)

5For Bauer biographical information see http://www.o ramericanvalues.org/bauer main.php For Perkins biographical information seehttp://www.frc.org/ger.cfm?i=BY0 H27

GIn February, 2005 Timemagazine caled Dr Neuhaus one ofAmerica's most influential Christian evangelicals (Van Beima 37)

7Cleary the political rise ofthe Religious Right in the last twenty-five yearsproves hispoint

American Values 30 July 2005 <http://www.o ramericanvalues.org/ab ur.php>

"Cont bute 31July 2005 <http://www.ouramericanvalues.org/contribute.ph>

Bellah, Robert "Civil Religion in America." Daedalus 96 (Winter 19 7): 1-2l

Carson, Clayborne, ed.The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, I.New York: Warner Books, 1998

Falwell, Jerry

'Alliance'' 30July2005 <http:/www.falwell.com/?a=abo t>

"Liberty University" 27 July 2005 <www.liberty.edu>

"Moral Majority" 30July 200 <http://www.moralmajority.us>

Family Research Council

"Cont bute 30July 2 05 <https://www.frc.org/ger.cfm?c=CONTRlBUTE>

"FRC" 30July 2005 < http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?c=ABOUT_FR >

Lakoff, George Moral Poltics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think Chicago: Univ.ofChicago Press, 2002

Neu aus, Richard John "From Civil Religion toPublic Philosophy." Civil Religion and Political Theology

Ed LeroyS Rouner Notre Dame: University of Notte Dame Press, 1986 98-110

Pierard,RichardV.and Robert D Linder.Civil Religionan the Presidency.Grand Rapids:Academie Books,1988

People for the Americ n Way.28July 2005 <http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/generaldefaulr.aspx?oid=163>

Smith, Craig R DanielWebster and theOratory ofCivil Relgio Columbia, MO: Univ of Mis o ri Press,2005

Sojourners 28 July 2005 <www.sojo.net>

Tolson, Jay."The Faih of Our Fathers." U.S News and World Rep rt 28 June 2004: 54

VanBeima, David, et al."The 25 Most Influential Evangelcals inAmerica." Time Feb 7, 2005

Walls, Jim God's Politics: Why the Right Gets ItWrong and the LeftDoesn't Get It SanFrancisco:

HarperSanFrancisco,2005