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{"id":1218,"date":"2009-01-18T00:54:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-18T00:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2009\/01\/1218\/"},"modified":"2009-01-18T00:54:00","modified_gmt":"2009-01-18T00:54:00","slug":"1218","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/evetushnet\/2009\/01\/1218.html","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u2026AND HANDED THEM OVER TO THE SECULAR ARM<\/strong>: The comments section to this post<\/a>, specifically Elizabeth Crum\u2019s use of the term \u201cnatural,\u201d reminded me of something I\u2019ve wanted to write about for a while now\u2013the fact that there\u2019s no such thing as a fully secular political argument<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Political arguments are about what is just, what is good, what is honorable, what is natural, and what is sacred. (They sometimes pretend to be about what is efficient or what is safe, but in order to rank efficiency and safety highest you must already have made a judgment about the relative ranking of the just and the good.) Those terms might seem like they\u2019re arranged in order from least to most religious, but I think really they\u2019re only arranged in order from least to most obviously <\/em>religious given current philosophical mores. Even the most-neutral term, justice, is claimed by groups ranging from the American Center for Law and Justice to Jews for Justice to the Institute for Justice<\/a>\u2013these seem like groups working from obviously divergent traditions of meaning, obviously divergent definitions of the word \u201cjustice.\u201d More<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(I am reminded of the Yale man who leapt onto a table in Commons, at the height of the Panther trials, and yelled, \u201cJustice to the Black Panthers! Death to the Black Panthers!\u201d If ever a word was double-edged\u2026.)<\/p>\n

What gives our words meaning?<\/a>* This is, at heart, a religious question; a question of aesthetics, of whom or Whom we love.<\/p>\n

*Yes, this is that same link I always give you<\/em>. If I could think of a better way to say it, I would.<\/p>\n

If we discard philosophical naivete, then, we can only argue that we should use the arguments most likely to be understood across a broad range of religious\/reaction-against-religion-ous (sorry!) traditions. I see three reasons to support this claim, in increasing order of importance: social comity, good manners, and rhetorical effectiveness.<\/p>\n

One of the central features of the American project is its need to simultaneously <\/em>acknowledge, give meaning to, and mitigate the tragedies inherent in our status as an immigrant nation<\/a>. Casting a broad rhetorical net is part of how we bring people into the American story. It\u2019s part of how we try to assimilate in both directions\u2013immigrants changing America, even as they\u2019re changed by America. So social comity is a big deal here.<\/p>\n

Good manners, even more important. It\u2019s uncouth to exclude someone just because you can\u2013just because your clique has the numbers in the Homecoming Queen vote.<\/p>\n

But rhetorical effectiveness is the most important reason to seek seemingly-neutral political rhetoric. And therefore, when sectarian rhetoric can be made so sublime that its appeal breaks over the banks of its sect, and washes across people from many other and contrary traditions, do it<\/em>\u2013this is the basic, boring lesson of the Rev. King\u2019s religious rhetoric.<\/p>\n

The upshot: 1) \u201cIt\u2019s the right thing to do\u201d is not a neutral statement. All virtue-words are given content <\/em>by a religious tradition, a philosophical tradition, or (this is almost always the case nowadays) both<\/a>. And since philosophy at its best takes part in the same eros as religion, suggesting that only the \u201cnon-religious\u201d philosophy is valid in the public square will only make our discourse banal.<\/p>\n

2) \u201cCivil religion\u201d which changes no minds and touches no hearts = stupid and useless. It\u2019s tapioca. Spit it out therefore, and seek sublime religious rhetoric of the kind which can awaken undiscovered longings even in the breast of a hardcore secularist.<\/p>\n

3) To combine both of the above points: Neutral is boring. Neutral is banal. Neutral is also impossible, since even if you and I agree on the most efficient means of securing physical satisfaction (good luck with that!) we disagree on when, how, and whether justice, liberty, mercy, loyalty (which loyalties?), family, or sublimity should trump efficient satisfaction of wants.<\/p>\n

In short, \u201cYou need to use secular arguments!\u201d is bad philosophy and we should stop saying it. Show me pictures so I understand what your words mean. Don\u2019t pretend we share compatible traditions of justice or freedom or equality or happiness. And I\u2019d rather be accommodated than implicitly excluded\u2026 but I\u2019d rather be wooed than accommodated.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"