Possessing a fervent conviction in one s rectitude adds little good to public policymaking. The official stage needs to be carefully protected against pious rages. There is no one who will take away human freedom faster than a true believer who gets the upper hand. Witness the Taliban who govern in Afghanistan. I believe faith needs to be protected, too.
Faith needs to remain on the margins.
Theocracy has never worked. The Word of God is always contrarian, calling people to repent and to let go, to turn away from the lures of wealth and power, to embrace the outcast and despised. To be effective, faith needs the freedom to disagree, to name the evils, to step away from the crowd and onto a boat, as Jesus once did, to take unpopular views, and to encourage values that are fundamentally at odds with community norms. It will serve faith poorly if the religious find common but tepid ground in the pursuit of money. N.C. He wrote this essay for Religion News Service.