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Religion and Privacy
| Article
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18456 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
9 / 1990 |
4,764 Words |
| Author
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Clarke E. Cochran
Clarke E. Cochran is professor of political science at Texas
Tech University in Lubbock. He is past chairperson of the
Religion and Politics Section of the American Political
Section of the American Political Science Association. His
most recent book is Religion in Public and Private Life
(Routledge, 1990). |
The identification of religion with privacy occurs naturally in contemporary life. To believe or not is, after all, an individual private decision. Therefore, in America at least, the freedom of individual private belief receives the protections of privacy through the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. This protection, however, comes at a price. The corollary of religion's privacy is its prohibition from entering public life. Thus, a strict interpretation of the establishment clause requires absolute separation of church and state.
Yet this relegation of religion to the private realm stems from a false view of religion. For religion is inherently both private and public. Religion is a constant reminder of the unity of public and private life but also of the boundary between them. Private and public life need each other, but they are different realms. The validity and the distinctive character of each contribute to a healthy distinction while also revealing the unity that lies beneath that distinction.
Although I stress the intersection of religion and public life, religion nevertheless fundamentally reminds us of the limits of politics and the nonequivalence of politics and public life. We must remember that religion points resolutely to life beyond politics. It reminds us that public problems and their solutions are not entirely political. Indeed, the distinctive contribution of religion to public and private life, to individuals and to culture, is to refer them to what is beyond politics.
RELIGION AND PRIVATE LIFE
The origins of individual character and virtue are mysteries. Participation in religion's public ceremonies is insufficient to explain why a person turns out this way instead of that. There is a unique side of character, a singular mix of virtues and vices, that, despite similarities within a religious tradition, marks each believer as original. Religion is irreducibly private. Examining the basic qualities of privacy reinforces this conclusion. Private life has two sides, which I term the exclusive and the inclusive. The exclusive side of private life refers to the isolation of parts of one's life from outsiders. The door of the home opens only to those who are welcome. It excludes others. This example also says something about inclusivity. Private life is constituted by those welcome to share it. We exclude some from our intimate circle in order to include others. I shall first consider the exclusive qualities of private
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