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$6.30The Story
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 squarewhich results from the exclusion of popular values from the public forumwill 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 Americas 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 JudeoChristian 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 highfor America, for the promise of democratic freedom elsewhere, and possibly for Gods 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 believers respect for nonbelievers is not a compromise but a requirement of the believers faith. Similarly, the democratic rights of those outside the communities of religious faith can be assured only by the inclusion of religiouslygrounded 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 Lincolns centuryold questionwhether this nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.
Description
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 squarewhich results from the exclusion of popular values from the public forumwill 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 Americas 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 JudeoChristian 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 highfor America, for the promise of democratic freedom elsewhere, and possibly for Gods 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 believers respect for nonbelievers is not a compromise but a requirement of the believers faith. Similarly, the democratic rights of those outside the communities of religious faith can be assured only by the inclusion of religiouslygrounded 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 Lincolns centuryold questionwhether this nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.
