24th August 2003 | Draft
Future Challenge of Faith-based Governance
- / -
Introduction
Part A: Patterns
of the Past -- Christian Complicity in Global Disorder
-- Faith-based
governance, policies and programmes
-- Infallibility
of Christian leadership
-- Democratic
contradictions in faith-based politics
-- Resolution
of policy dilemmas in faith-based politics
-- Faith-based
evidence
-- Evil and
demonization
-- Faith-based
justice
-- Interfaith
dialogue
-- Faith-based
withdrawal of human rights
-- Torture
under faith-based leadership
-- Faith-based
military action: "Gott Mit Uns"
-- Faith-based
intolerance of disagreement: avoidance of dialogue with dissenters
-- Transference
of moral responsibility for deferred pain
-- Vengefulness
and redemption
-- Complicity
of Christian faiths
Part B: Towards
Fruitful Patterns of Faith-based Governance
-- Addressing
the fragmentation of the various faith communities
-- Historical
review of failures of interfaith initiatives and their learnings for the future
-- Acknowledgement
of faith-based errors of the past
-- Acknowledgement
of the "shadow side" of any collective human enterprise
-- Challenge
of any encounter with "the other"
-- Re-evaluation
of Western and Christian criticism of other approaches to faith-based governance
-- Exploration
of relevance of complexity studies to faith-based governance
-- Recovering
a sense of complementarity necessary to understanding of complex truths
-- Constraining
projections and the missionary impulse
-- Beyond
exclusiveness and exclusion
-- Dissociation
from the hegemonic agenda
-- Responding
to the challenges of misrepresentation in faith-based governance
-- Reframing
interfaith dialogue
-- Sustainable
development and the relevance of faith-based preoccupation with virtues and
vices
References
Introduction
Western civilization emerged into the 20th century following the
neutralization of the religious conflicts between Catholics and Protestants
characteristic of previous centuries. A degree of separation of church and state
was assured -- even in countries with state religions. This trend has been dramatically
reversed through the uniquely Christian inspiration of the Coalition of the
Willing under the leadership of the USA -- in what has been perceived as a "crusade"
against the Islamic faith in particular and against dissidence in general.
The unique characteristic of organized religion in a complex world
is a freedom from public doubt -- whatever private doubts may be matters of
personal conscience. This degree of righteous conviction achieves its most emphatic
and unconstrained expression in the leadership of the Coalition of the Willing.
For it is indeed the case that George Bush (USA), Tony Blair (UK) and John Howard
(Australia) are men of deep Christian faith, whether or not they are born-again
Christians as in the case of Bush and Howard. Secondary members of the Coalition
included the traditionally Catholic countries of Italy and Spain.
The world has had to struggle over centuries with the erroneous
convictions of the Catholic Church regarding many insights of science -- as
exemplified by the delay of four centuries with respect to the discoveries of
Galileo [more].
These convictions were reinforced by an infallible papacy. This struggle now
continues with the increasing conflict between creationism and evolution biology
in the USA -- over which George Bush has claimed to be neutral -- and an emphasis
on faith-based programmes both by Bush and Blair. A particular focus was provided
in 2003 in the debate over the future European Constitution and the implications
of including or excluding any mention of God [more
| more].
The paper is in two parts. The concern here in Part
A is to identify areas in which, through this righteous sense of knowing
the truth beyond any reasonable challenge, Christianity is now directly complicit
in aggravating world disorder -- in addition to the challenges presented by
the many other problems of the world, including terrorism (see online Encyclopedia
of World Problems and Human Potential). This is not to deny complicity
of other faiths (notably Judaism and Islam) but that has been frequently analyzed
in relation to the crisis in the Middle East.
The question is whether Christian leadership of the "free
world" is now perverting the highest values of Christianity beyond recognition.
There is however also a case for recognizing the degree to which science --
in contrasting its perspective with that of religion -- also constitutes a belief
system that has some of the characteristics of other faith-based initiatives.
Such questions have some merit in a period in which the emergent
American global strategy for the 21st century seeks to impose an American order
worldwide -- an order based on American principles, and the privileged American
relation to God, that many in other countries may be challenged to understand.
Other members of the Coalition of the Willing believe, as articulated by Tony
Blair, that it is futile to protest this hegemonic strategy and its benefits
for the world. This hegemony is now being extended by the Bush Administration
in the form of military control of what it terms "near space," thereby laying
claim to the area of the Solar System that lies between the Earth and the Moon's
orbit. "A key objective is not only to ensure U.S. ability to exploit space
for military purposes, but also as required to deny an adversary's ability to
do so," is how the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review (2001) explained
the strategy (see Joel Bleifuss. Rods
from God. 2003)
However, if it is to be accepted, any such faith-based approach
to global governance calls for a proactive exploration of the flaws apparent
in previous faith-based approaches to governance -- on which historical perspective
has been slow to emerge. Attention to the lessons of history is vital if world
civilization is to avoid the traps of the past. Pointers in this direction are
outlined in Part
B.
Any reflection on faith-based "religious" approaches
to governance, should also consider the nature of the "faith" placed
by other sectors of society in their own preferred approaches to governance,
including:
- technocrats: in the economic and global models on which they assume it is
desirable and appropriate to base decisions about governance.
- military: in the inculcated faith in the leadership and command structure
- legal professions: in the rule of law
- business and commerce: in the belief in the role of the market, especially
in relation to "confidence", and in the persuasive power of money
- organizations: in their "value charters" as "credos"
focusing the collective commitment of their employees and members
- employees: in the social safety nets to which they may well commit resources
throughout their working lives
As remarked by John Ralston Saul:
Reason is a narrow system swollen into an ideology. With time and power it
has become a dogma, devoid of direction and disguised as disinterested inquiry.
Like most religions, reason presents itself as the solution to the problems
it has created. (Voltaire's Bastards: the dictatorship of reason in the
West, 1993).
Attention should also be given to the new degree of "faith" which
the leadership in faith-based governance now expects the electorate to have
in its judgement and capacity -- as with Tony Blair's appeals to "trust
me" in a time of democratic deficit and voter apathy. There is considerable
danger that "faith-based governance" will come to mean just that --
an unreasonable dependence on the part of those who govern in the electorate's
"faith" in them, irrespective of strong indications suggestive of
the need for a change of regime. This expectation is a characteristic of many
non-democratic societies.
References
Azizah al-Hibri, Jean Elshtain, and Charles Haynes. Faith Matters: Religion
and Public Life in America. New York, W.W. Norton, 2001.
Babette E. Babich (Ed). Hermeneutic Philosophy of Science, Van Gogh's Eyes,
and God Essays in Honor of Patrick A. Heelan, S.J. Fordham University, New York,
and Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA Book Series: Boston Studies in
the Philosophy of Science, Volume 225 (contents)
David Blankenhorn. What We are Fighting For. Institute for American Values,
2002 (text)
Stephen L. Carter. God’s Name in Vain: The Wrongs and Rights of Religion in
Politics. New York, Basic Books, 2000.
Antonio de Nicolas. Neurobiology, Communities, Religion: A Bio-Cultural Study.
1998 (version in Experimental Gerontology Volume 33, Number 1/2, January-March
1998) (text)
Antonio de Nicolas. The Biocultural Paradigm: The Neural Connection Between
Science and Mysticism. Experimental Gerontology, Volume 33, Nos.1/2,000-000,
1997 (text)
Antonio de Nicolas. Meditations through the Rg Veda. Boulder, Shambhala, 1978
Maureen Farrell. "God Is With Us": Hitler's Rhetoric and the Lure of "Moral
Values". Buzzflash.com, 7 December 2004 [text]
Peter Gabel. Spiritualizing Foreign Policy. Tikkun, May/June 2003 (text)
Stanley M. Hauerwas and Frank Lentricchia (Eds). Dissent from the Homeland:
Essays After September 11. Duke University Press, 2003 (also South Atlantic
Quarterly, special issue, Volume. 101, no. 2) (contents)
Michael Ortiz Hill. Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: Bush's Armageddon Obsession,
Revisited. Counterpunch, 4 January 2003 (text)
Michael Ortiz Hill. Dreaming the End of the World: Apocalypse as a rite of
passage. Spring, 1994
Geert Hostede. Culture's Consequences: international differences in work-related
values. London, Sage, 1984
John T. Jost, Arie W. Kruglanski, Jack Glaser, and Frank J. Sulloway. Political
Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition. Psychological Bulletin (American
Psychological Association), 2003, Vol. 129, No. 3, 339-375 (text)
(review)
John T. Jost, Arie W. Kruglanski, Jack Glaser, and Frank J. Sulloway. Exceptions
That Prove the Rule—Using a Theory of Motivated Social Cognition to Account
for Ideological Incongruities and Political Anomalies: Reply to Greenberg and
Jona (2003). Psychological Bulletin (American Psychological Association),
2003, Vol. 129, No. 3, 383-393. (text)
Anthony Judge. Terminal Empowerment: socio-political implications of radical
mutual assistance amongst the terminally ill. 2003 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs00s/terminal.php)
Anthony Judge. Navigating Alternative Conceptual Realities: clues to the dynamics
of enacting new paradigms through movement. 2003 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/detach.php)
Anthony Judge. Destructive Weapons of Mass Distraction vs Distractive Weapons
of Mass Destruction. 2003 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/musings/wepmade.php)
Anthony Judge. The "Dark Riders" of Social Change: a challenge for any Fellowship
of the Ring. 2002 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/musings/riders.php)
Anthony Judge. Groupthink: the Search for Archaeoraptor as a Metaphoric Tale.
2002 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/musings/raptor.php)
Anthony Judge. Transforming the Encounter with Terrorism. 2002 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/terror.php)
Anthony Judge. Coherent Patterns of Schism Formation, Bifurcation and Disagreement.
2001 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/schism.php)
Anthony Judge. Web resources: Critical thinking vs. Specious arguments. 2001
(http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/links/webcrit.php)
Anthony Judge. Missiles, Missives, Missions and Memetic Warfare: Navigation
of strategic interfaces in multidimensional knowledge space. 2001 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/missile.php)
Anthony Judge. Enhancing the Quality of Knowing through Integration of East-West
metaphors. 2000 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/knowqual.php)
Anthony Judge. Evaluating Synthesis Initiatives and their Sustaining Dialogues.
2000 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/synthdia.php)
Anthony Judge. Enhancing Sustainable Development Strategies through Avoidance
of Military Metaphors. 1998 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/targets.php)
Anthony Judge. Aesthetic Challenge of Interfaith Dialogue as Exemplified by
Meditation. 1997 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/aesthet.php)
Anthony Judge. Reframing interfaith Relationships. 1997 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/conftran/xoxfor97.php)
Anthony Judge. Reframing Relationships as a Mathematical Challenge: Jerusalem
as a Parody of Current Interfaith Dialogue. 1997 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/jerus97.php)
Anthony Judge. Conference towards Spiritual Concord as a Metaphor of Spiritual
Concord. 1994 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs90s/94spirco.php)
Anthony Judge. Possible Traps Towards Spiritual Concord. 1993 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/conftran/xsptrap2.php)
Anthony Judge. Towards a Language of Spiritual Concord. 1993 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/conftran/xsplang.php)
Anthony Judge. Learnings for the Future of interfaith Dialogue
Anthony Judge. Towards Spiritual Concord: First World Congress towards Spiritual
Concord (Alma Ata, 1992) (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/cnfalma.php)
Anthony Judge. Higher Orders of Inter-sectoral "Consensus": Clarification of
formal possibilities. 1991 (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs90s/ifchigh.php)
Michael Kinsley. God Bless You And God Bless America. Slate Magazine,
25 January 2001. (text)
Bruce M. Knauft. 9/11 and the U.S. Production of Global Crisis (The Eighteenth
Brumaire of George W. Bush). Paper for the Session “9/11 and Hegemonic Response:
Global Emergency or Alarming Excuse?” of the annual meeting of the American
Anthropological Association (New Orleans, 21 November 2002) (text)
Andrew Kohut, John C. Green, Scott Keeter, and Robert C. Toth. The Diminishing
Divide: Religion’s Changing Role in American Politics. Washington, D.C., The
Brookings Institution, 2000. (contents)
Glenn Loury. ‘God Talk’ and Public Policy: a Considered Opinion. The Brookings
Review, vol. 17, 1999, no. 2 (spring). (text)
Marc Luyckx. Religions Confronted with Science and Technology: churches and
ethics after Prometheus. Brussels, Commission of the European Communities, FAST
(Forecasting and Assessment in Science and Technology), 1992
Magoroh Maruyama. Mindscapes, social patterns and future development of scientific
theory types. Cybernetica, 1980, 23, 1, pp 5-25 (text)
E G McClain. The Myth of Invariance. Boulder, Shambhala, 1976
Mary Midgley. Myths We Live By. Routledge, 2003 (review)
Kinhide Mushakoji. Global Issues and Interparadigmatic Dialogue. Torino, Albert
Meynier, 1988
Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Lift Every Voice: Report on Religion
In American Public Life, 2002. (text)
Pontifical Council for Culture / Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
Jesus Christ: the Bearer of the Water of Life -- A Christian reflection on the
“New Age”. (Provisional report) 2003 (text)
Darrell A. Posey (Editor). Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity: a
complementary contribution to Global Biodiversity Assessment, Intermediate Technology,
1999 (for the United Nations Environment Programme)
John Ralston Saul. Voltaire's Bastards: the dictatorship of reason in the West.
New York, The Free Press, 1992 (review)
Richard Sennett. They mean well: the American flight from foreign politics
into faith. Times Literary Supplement, 7 June 2002, pp 6-8
Wayne Teasdale. Interreligious Dialogue Since Vatican II -- The Monastic Contemplative
Dimension. Spirituality Today, Summer 1991, Vol.43 No. 2, pp. 119-133
(text)
Ronald F. Thiemann. Religion in Public Life: A Dilemma for Democracy. Washington,
D.C., Georgetown University Press, 1996
Union of International Associations. Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human
Potential. 1994-5
Sarah Voss. Zero: Reflections about Nothing by Sarah Voss. North Bend, Indiana:
CrossCultural Publications, 1998
Sarah Voss. What Number Is God? Metaphors, Metaphysics, Metamathematics, and
the Nature of Things. State University of New York Press, 1995
Jason Webster. Duende: A Journey in Search of Flamenco. Doubleday, 2002 (review)
Garry Wills. With God on His Side. New York Time, 30 March 2003 (text)
Garry Wills. Under God: Religion and America Politics. New York, Simon & Schuster,
1990
Martin Woollacott. Don't Blame Religion for the Killings Done in God's Name.
Guardian, 11/29/2002 (text)
|
