Georgetown University: Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs: The Future of Political Theologies

The postwar era gave rise to an extended debate about the place of religion in public life in the United States and other established democracies. The context for that debate has shifted decisively over the past two decades. Religious actors and institutions have increasingly gained political influence, marshalling religious arguments to justify political and legal stances and activity. Religiously-inspired global events have made urgent the need for understanding how religious belief inspires and legitimates political activity. In a world marked by increasing religious and cultural pluralism, decisive questions for democratic societies today are less about whether than about how religion should play a role in political life, both within domestic and international contexts.

How do those within religious traditions approach politics—both in terms of legitimating political power and in their own attempts to achieve political control? How do those diverse approaches – and their interaction in practice – challenge established ways of thinking about the proper role of religion in public life? On what basis can religiously-motivated political positions be critiqued—both from within and from outside of the traditions?

These are urgent questions posed to contemporary political theologies. The field of political theology has traditionally explored the legitimation of political authority on the basis of divine revelation and religious authority, texts, and tradition. The Berkley Center’s “Future of Political Theologies” program will map and analyze historic and contemporary understandings of political engagement across Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The Berkley Center program will engage political theologies not merely as a set of theoretical concepts, but as religious beliefs and principles that ground political action within contemporary geo-political struggles. It will bring together leading thinkers and practitioners within each tradition – as well as secular counterparts – to examine three core questions at the intersection of religious pluralism and democratic politics.

1. How should religious identity and ethics affect political engagement, in a context of growing cultural and religious pluralism? For some thinkers, the greater the pluralism, the greater the need for a neutral, secular language to adjudicate conflicting claims. Others point to the ethical and practical dangers of excluding religious citizens and their faith perspectives from the democratic public sphere. Each of these positions about the legitimation of political power and the role of religious claims is grounded differently within and across the Abrahamic faiths. What are the claims about the legitimacy and limits of political power made from within these faiths? How are these political theologies critiqued from within the religious traditions, comparatively across the different faiths, and from non-religious perspectives?

2. When does religious identity and ethics clash with the demands of democratic politics? Liberal democracy, by definition, entails both respect for majority rule and minority rights. Claims about God’s sovereignty and the demands of religious law can generate political-religious tensions. Do citizens who want to legislate their own religiously-based standards of behavior corrupt the democratic process? How can citizens confronted with legislation that contravenes their beliefs navigate competing obligations? Each of the Abrahamic traditions has theological resources for those who would counsel acquiescence – and for those who opt for resistance. In a context of cultural and religious pluralism, as tensions between democratic outcomes and particular faith traditions are bound to grow, the direction and outcome of these running debates will be of decisive importance.

3. What distinguishes “moderate” from “extreme” religious stances on politics and how can the latter be transformed—or contained? Where one draws the line between moderates and extremists, within and across religious traditions, is a critical issue. Some definitions of extremism center on those who would advocate or exercise violence. Others conflate extremism with fundamentalism, dogmatism, and an aversion to dialogue and compromise. Still others label as extremist those who insist that, for the sake of social and political harmony, religious claims should be excluded from democratic politics. How are these positions grounded? Who defines what constitutes extremism? What mix of force, dialogue, or changes in material circumstances best counter extremism in practice?

The prevailing answers to all three interrelated questions will have a decisive impact on the future of democracy in the United States and around the world. How they are answered – by political and religious leaders, and by scholars – will shape the prospects for social peace and political stability for decades to come.


The “Future of Political Theologies” program will explore these questions through: 

    • A conference of leading scholars that culminates in a book
    • A series of one-on-one debates that feature leading thinkers
    • Lectures by political and religious leaders
    • Web-based resources that track debates within and across religious traditions
    • New graduate and undergraduate courses
 
Also see our program on Religion and the 2008 Election.

EVENTS

The Stillborn God? A Conversation About the Future of Political Theologies. March 13, 2008

The Islamic Political Tradition: Can It Be Saved? March 10, 2008