Many religious believers think that their religion holds the key to morality, justice, and political order. They are certain that if only their religion and religious values were enforced by law, everything in the world would be better. This, however, is merely the path towards ideological and religious dictatorship - and some religious leaders agree

In Many Religions — One Covenant: Israel, the Church, and the World, Pope Benedict XVI writes:

Of course our efforts on behalf of peace, justice, and the protection of creation are of the highest importance, and religion should doubtlessly provide a vehicle for substantial action in this regard. But the religions have no a priori knowledge of what serves peace here and now, or of how social justice can be built within and between states, or of how creation can best be protected and cultivated out of a sense of responsibility to the Creator. All these things must be worked out rationally and on an individual basis.

This always requires free debate between differing opinions and respect for different paths. Often this pluralism of paths cannot be resolved, and if the wearying rational debate is cut short by a religiously motivated moralism that declares one path to be the only right one, religion is perverted into an ideological dictatorship, with a totalitarian passion that does not build peace but destroys it. Religion cannot be forced into the service of practical-political objectives; the latter would become an idol; man, making God the slave of his plans, would degrade both God and himself.

Usually we hear such sentiments from secularists, not religious leaders — and especially such conservative religious leaders. Benedict is right, though, that forcing religion into the service of political objectives leads to totalitarian passion. Such totalitarianism is best avoided through a pluralism of perspectives and ideas — religious pluralism, to be specific in this case. The more religions there are competing for attention, the harder it will be for any one religion to accumulate too much power.

In the past in America, Christian churches were largely unchallenged in their dominance over American society. Today, though, there is a great deal of religious competition in America and this has forced greater diversity on the political scene as well. Christians can no longer expect the government to treat them with special privileges. Some attempt to try to cut debate short by insisting that their privileges are actually rights and that they have a right to impose their morals on others, but this tactic doesn’t work as well as it used to.

 

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