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A New Establishment? Theological Politics and the Emerging Shape of Church-State Relations
Abstract
This paper examines the changing pattern of the relationship between religious
communities and the state. It argues that the church, in the light of
what is actually being offered to it by the state in terms of partnership, should,
on the basis of its own frame of reference, refuse the terms and conditions
of cooperation. The first section charts the developments which shape this
emerging relationship since the early 1990s, most notably, the strengthening
of the public voice of minority faith communities. The second section analyses
the debates about the role of religious communities in generating social
cohesion and social capital in the context of debates about the importance of
civil society to liberal democracy. The third section assesses whether the
emergent shape of relations between the state and faith communities conforms
to or contradicts a liberal account of the role of religious discourse in
the public square. In contrast, the last two sections focus on the place of the
church in this emergent relationship and analyse the opportunities and pitfalls
confronting the church in the light of contemporary political theology.
The primary theologies drawn on are represented by the work of Stanley
Hauerwas, John Paul II and Joan Lockwood and Oliver O’Donovan.
communities and the state. It argues that the church, in the light of
what is actually being offered to it by the state in terms of partnership, should,
on the basis of its own frame of reference, refuse the terms and conditions
of cooperation. The first section charts the developments which shape this
emerging relationship since the early 1990s, most notably, the strengthening
of the public voice of minority faith communities. The second section analyses
the debates about the role of religious communities in generating social
cohesion and social capital in the context of debates about the importance of
civil society to liberal democracy. The third section assesses whether the
emergent shape of relations between the state and faith communities conforms
to or contradicts a liberal account of the role of religious discourse in
the public square. In contrast, the last two sections focus on the place of the
church in this emergent relationship and analyse the opportunities and pitfalls
confronting the church in the light of contemporary political theology.
The primary theologies drawn on are represented by the work of Stanley
Hauerwas, John Paul II and Joan Lockwood and Oliver O’Donovan.