Does Religion Become More Intolerant as Society Becomes More Secular?

Over at The Atlantic, Jonathan Rauch, has a piece on The Great Secession about the apparent exodus of religious conservatives from mainstream culture and even every day life. Its a good piece to read and gives good pause for thought in the culture wars going on the west between the gay and god-fearing.

Rauch declares his main point:

I am someone who believes that religious liberty is the country’s founding freedom, the idea that made America possible. I am also a homosexual atheist, so religious conservatives may not want my advice. I’ll give it to them anyway. Culturally conservative Christians are taking a pronounced turn toward social secession: asserting both the right and the intent to sequester themselves from secular culture and norms, including the norm of nondiscrimination. This is not a good idea. When religion isolates itself from secular society, both sides lose, but religion loses more.

At one level I feel like Rauch has discovered that the Pope is Catholic. A huge chunk of conservative American Protestants have always had a “separatist” mentality, one that peaked in the 1920s-60s, and is proven by the number of private Christian schools and private Christian colleges. Christians love setting up their own little enclaves as it were (anyone been to Grand Rapids folks?) Yet I would point out, that the so-called secession is partly due to a secular push to get religion and churches out of the public square: out of education, out of government, out of media, and even out of charities that receive government funding. While some might be running out, others are being pushed out.

But he gets one thing quite right, the fear factor:

One is the fear that traditional religious views, especially about marriage, will soon be condemned as no better than racism, and that religious dissenters will be driven from respectable society, denied government contracts, and passed over for jobs—a fear heightened by well-publicized stories like the recent one about the resignation of Mozilla’s CEO, who had donated to the campaign against gay marriage in California. After a talk I gave recently in Philadelphia on free speech, a woman approached me claiming that the school system where she works harasses and fires anyone who questions gay marriage. I wanted to point out that in most states it’s perfectly legal to fire people just for being gay, whereas Christians enjoy robust federal and state antidiscrimination protections, but the look in her eyes was too fearful for convincing. Perhaps it is natural for worried people to daydream about some kind of escape. One Christian acquaintance told me, “I say half jokingly to my wife, ‘Where do we move?’ ”

He rightly points out the difference is perception and that is much of the problem:

I must sadly acknowledge that there is an absolutist streak among some secular civil-rights advocates. They think, justifiably, that discrimination is wrong and should not be tolerated, but they are too quick to overlook the unique role religion plays in American life and the unique protections it enjoys under the First Amendment. As a matter of both political wisdom and constitutional doctrine, the faithful have every right to seek reasonable accommodations for religious conscience. The problem is that what the social secessionists are asking for does not seem all that reasonable, especially to young Americans. When Christian businesses boycott gay weddings and pride celebrations, and when they lobby and sue for the right to do so, they may think they are sending the message “Just leave us alone.” But the message that mainstream Americans, especially young Americans, receive is very different. They hear: “What we, the faithful, really want is to discriminate. Against gays. Maybe against you or people you hold dear. Heck, against your dog.”

That probably sums it up and is the heart of the debate. How do you balance religious freedom with anti-discrimination laws, both of which are good things!

I actually agree with Rauch’s solution:

There is, of course, a very different Christian tradition: a missionary tradition of engagement and education, of resolutely and even cheerfully going out into an often uncomprehending world, rather than staying home with the shutters closed. In this alternative tradition, a Christian photographer might see a same-sex wedding as an opportunity to engage and interact: a chance, perhaps, to explain why the service will be provided, but with a moral caveat or a prayer. Not every gay customer would welcome such a conversation, but it sure beats having the door slammed in your face.

In fact, the missional reason to stay and work in the secular gay-friendly post/anti-Christian world is THE reason. Let me throw us out, feed us to the lions, but don’t walk away.