AMERICA: CITY ON A HILL? — THE STATE & RELIGION

“Politics no longer asks why or whether questions but only how,” author Salman Rushdie once wrote. “It does not ask what kind of world we wish to live in. It does not analyze the consequences of the choices that are made for us. Nor does it address itself to the grievances and achings of the soul.” For millions of people, those “achings of the soul” have found no relief in secular politics, and civic life has become a farcical drama played out by governments and states who seem to have no concern for the deeper needs of human existence.Whether it’s the issue of secularism and cultural identity in Europe’s headscarf cases, the battle over land and holy sites in the Middle East or the feud over prayer in American schools the intersection of faith and politics sometimes creates conflict.

Below, guests on FAITH & REASON and other thinkers offer their insights and opinions on the uneasy balance between politics and religion as it has played out around the world.