Don’t Bring Your Religion to the Discussion. Really?

Introduction

In his book, The Secular Age, Charles Taylor, the Canadian philosopher, traced the development of secularism across three significant epochs: impossible not to believe, possible not to believe, impossible to believe.

The first stage (impossible not to believe) describes the traditional, pre-modern age where belief in a God was ubiquitous, and it was mostly impossible not to believe in God. In those days, the question was which God or god exists, not whether there was God or a god.

In fact, Miles Coverdale coined the word atheist when translating the bible to English in 1534. He had to come up with a word to describe unbelief.

But we moved from the pre-modern age to the modern age, where it was now possible not to believe. The French Revolution (and its rationalism) and the mainstreaming of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species began to provide a philosophical foundation for the popularity of unbelief. Soon, an entire economic and political system-communism-was built on unbelief. 

From old-school atheism, we transitioned to militant atheism (new atheism). Now, it is impossible to believe. Faith in God is now outside of the intellectual mainstream; their unbelief now defines the intellectual elites, and the one who believes is now the pariah- the unscientific ignoramus.

One way this mainstreaming of unbelief shows itself is that believers are now prevented from bringing their religion to the public square. Society now expects that when a religious man goes outside of his home, he should drop all his religious convictions and engage with the culture on its secular terms.

How often will you hear people dismiss an argument by calling it religious or dismiss the one making the argument by telling him he can’t bring his religion to the discussion?

What’s wrong with this line of reasoning?

Religion and Secularism as worldviews

Every human has a worldview. For some people, their worldviews are not well defined or systematic. However, others have a defined and systematized worldview.

Your worldview is your understanding of the world – its origin, meaning, purpose, and destiny. While many people don’t have a systematized worldview, you can identify their worldview by their actions.

Many people dismiss philosophical thinking because they believe it’s irrelevant to “real life.” However, as Richard Weaver discussed in his book, Ideas have consequences. What you believe about the world-your worldview-determines how you act within it. So you can identify many people’s worldviews by their actions, decisions, politics, etc. The fruits expose the root.

Again, everyone has a worldview. Some hold a worldview even though they don’t know its name or all its ramifications. And many are inconsistent, borrowing capital from other worldviews when theirs breakdown.

There are two broad categories in discussing worldviews –secular and religious. In a secular worldview, the universe is self-created and self-existing (there is no intelligent being  who created the universe or is outside of it) – in Carl Sagan’s word, “the Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be.” Because the universe is all that is, the universe has no meaning or purpose external to it. Likewise, the end of the universe is destruction. Since there is no ultimate meaning, purpose, and destiny, there are no universal or transcendental morals. Morality is not objective-morals are nothing but social constructions.

On the other hand, in a religious worldview, the universe had a beginning in time, when it was created and came into being. Since there is a creator behind the universe, it has a meaning and purpose. God is actively involved in this universe, accomplishing his goals. One day, he will end this universe in its current state and bring about a new order of things where sin and suffering will be gone.

It’s important to understand that secularism and religion are two competing worldviews. Many want us to believe that secularism is a neutral state. But secularism is not neutral; it is an anti-religious worldview, just like religion is an anti-secular worldview.

Therefore, the idea that religious people should drop their religion and make purely secular arguments is silly. For one thing, the religious person can turn around and tell the secularist to drop his secularism and make purely religious arguments.

Secularism is not a neutral state of intellectual ad idem where we all leave our biases and find some objective basis for intelligent discussion. That’s a lie. Secularism is a worldview with its own presuppositions – for example, no God above us, only skies, no meaning to the universe, the universe is self-consisting, etc.-just like religious worldviews have their presuppositions- for example, there is a God above us beyond the skies, the universe has meaning, and God is sovereign over it.

Secularists avoid arguing for their presuppositions by lying to us that secularism is a neutral and objective way of looking at the world. It’s not.

Enough of the evasion. Secularists must argue for their presuppositions just as religious people argue for theirs.

The next time someone tells you to stop making a religious argument, ask them to also stop making a secular, non-religious argument. The next time they ask you to stop bringing your religion along (drop it at the door of your house, they say), tell them to drop their secularism at the door as well.

Implications

Worldviews are not just some ivory tower conceptions. Your worldview affects every aspect of your life in the public square.

Let’s take the homosexuality question as an example. Suppose you have a religious worldview where there is a God above us who designed this world in a specific way and gave us universal morals. In that case, you will argue that homosexuality is a distortionof marriage and sex as God designed them.

But suppose you hold to a secular worldview where God does not exist (and is thereby irrelevant). In that case, there is no design (and therefore no meaning and purpose), and the universe is self-consisting. You will argue that homosexuality distorts nothing (since there cannot be distortion if there is no purpose). In a secular worldview, we can reconstruct the universe as we like; girls can be boys, boys can be girls, and we can reconstruct sex as we want.

In moral issues, secularism can manifest as pragmatism (results determine right and wrong), situation ethics (the situation decides what is right or wrong), or utilitarianism (social democracy), among others.

Now the problem arises when the secular person dismisses the religious person for making a religious case for banning homosexuality when, in fact, he is also making a non-religious case for legalizing homosexuality.

In essence, it is stupid for the secularist to tell the religious person to stop making religious arguments when he (the secularist) won’t stop making secular arguments.

Secularists try to shut down the religious people with a sleight of hand. It’s time we stop conceding.

You cannot tell someone to stop making arguments that arise from their underlying worldview. The question must be settled on other grounds: does the person have good arguments for the underlying worldview. If your assertion that only skies are above us does not convince me, then you can’t stop me from believing there is a God above us and from making arguments in line with that worldview.

And in case you are among those that believe that religion is mere faith and secularism is reason, you are mistaken. Philosophers and scientists have written books defending intelligent design (Signature in the Cell, The Privileged Planet, Intelligent Design). On the other hand, they have also written many books critiquing Darwinism, which is foundational to a secularist worldview (Darwin on Trial, Darwin’s Black Box, Darwin’s Doubt).

So instead of dismissing religious arguments, secularists must recognize that religious views flow from a religious worldview, just like their secular views flow from their secularist worldview. Nothing like intellectual neutrality.

Christianity is a religion

In an attempt to say that Christianity is more than a religion, I have heard people say that Christianity is not a religion but a lifestyle.

The problem with stripping Christianity to a lifestyle is that it becomes a private faith that only tells us what to do within the four corners of our homes. If Christianity is just a lifestyle, it has no implications for the world outside of the church. We are left with a privatized faith where all we do is argue all day whether women can wear trousers or use earrings.

But Christianity is a religion. It’s a religious worldview that says many things about the origin, purpose, meaning, and destiny of the universe.

Therefore, Christianity has implications for the world outside of the church. Our religious worldview compels us to make religious arguments about everything in the public square.

Christ is Lord over all

Christ was crucified publicly (Hebrews 13:12). Therefore, our faith in him cannot be a mere private endeavor.

Before he went to the cross, he told his disciples that all authority in heaven and earth is his (Mathew 28:18). Notice that Christ is not merely claiming authority in heaven; all authority on earth is his.

When he taught his disciples to pray, he told them to pray that God’s will will be done on earth just as it is in heaven (Mathew 6:10). You read that right! On earth as in heaven.

In Colossians 1, Paul teaches that Christ created all things in heaven and on earth, visible, invisible, thrones, powers, rulers, and authorities and that they all exist for Christ (verses 15-17). Therefore, in everything, he must have the supremacy (verse 18).

“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!,” said Abraham Kuyper, former Prime Minister of Netherlands.

Christ is Lord, not just over our tiny hearts, but over everything. Therefore, the Christian faith is not merely a private affair that does not extend beyond Sunday. As believers, we must look at every sphere of society-politics, economy, popular culture, and education, etc. - and declare that Jesus Christ is the lord over that sphere.

And if he is Lord, we should submit to his lordship. We should make laws, do politics, manage economies, and educate the next generation in obedience to him.

Christianity is a religion, a religion where Christ is Lord over all.

We must never concede the public square to the secularists. Let them make their secular arguments for homosexuality, and let’s make our religious arguments against it. And let’s do the same on other issues ranging from abortion, capitalism or socialism, biblical justice or social justice, limited government or big government, among others.

God promised to make the nations and the ends of the earth Christ’s inheritance (Psalms 2:8-9). One consequence of this is that the kings and rulers of the earth must serve the Lord with fear and Kiss the Son (verses 10-12). They must submit to him and rule their respective kingdoms in obedience to his will.

Conclusion

The advantage that Christians have is two-fold.

First, you cannot live against reality for so long. When the secularists try to reconstruct the universe, they will soon find themselves at loggerheads with God’s design. When they say men can be women and participate in women's sports, they will soon start scratching their heads when the men-turned-women start packing all the prizes. “It seems this guy is not a gal after all.”

When they tell the women that all the glory is outside the home, they soon hit an iceberg when many more women leave their jobs to stay with their children. Or they will hit the iceberg when there is no more distinction between women and men. Who are we fighting for again?

Second, God has already given the whole world to Christ, and he will claim his inheritance. The battle with the secularists is not a battle of equals. Our weapons of warfare are spiritual. We have the good news of the gospel and the power of the Spirit leading us on. Christ will claim what he paid for.

We already know how the story ends. It ends with innumerable people from every tribe, language, tongue, and nation, saved by the blood of the Lamb, following the Lamb wherever he goes, obeying his commands, and keeping his testimony (Revelation 5, 7, 12, 14).

Let’s stop living as if God does not care about this world and the only thing that matters is the 1-3 hours we spend in church every Sunday. If we are Christians at all, we must be Christians everywhere. Our Christianity must influence everything we do, say, support, and oppose in the public square. We must not concede any ground to the secularists since every square inch is our Lord’s.

Let’s keep making our religious arguments.