Christianity, Pluralism, and Public Life

To say that questions involving pluralism are becoming increasingly salient in our politics today is, in part, to recognize that
more people of various backgrounds have access to the public square in a meaningful way. Due to several factors, including
the democratization of media and communication, the reality of our pluralism is more difficult to ignore or miss. Americans
must decide—in this moment, drawing from the nation’s best ideals and the most difficult lessons of the past—how to contend
with differences, and how we ought to live together.
One problem, of course, is that pluralism opens the opportunity for groups of people to be pitted against one another. Current
political trends tend to facilitate and incentivize such divisiveness.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Religious freedom is necessary for a healthy religious pluralism and is a fundamental human right. Article 18 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights defines it well: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right
includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or
private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” 22
Religious freedom has been a central American ideal since the Founding. As with other areas regarding difference,
institutions and political actors have at times violated principles of religious freedom, yet America has been an international
leader in promoting this important human right.
In recent decades, as the United States has grown increasingly diverse and cultural issues have moved into the national
political spotlight, religious freedom—its reach and its very meaning —has become hotly contested. Less than 30 years after
the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was passed almost unanimously by Congress and signed into law by President Bill
Clinton in 1993, the politics of religious freedom have shifted dramatically. There is increasing disagreement over the scope of
religious freedom and its place in relation to other civil liberties. Some observers view religion as a completely private matter
and assume it has little to no place in the public arena. But such a limited understanding misses the centrality of religion as a
transformative way of life. For some individuals, religion is simply a preference or cultural marker that has little effect on their
daily lives, but for many people of faith, religion is an essential identity that naturally shapes all aspects of life, private and
public.
Many of the individuals we interviewed raised concerns about growing division over religious freedom, the general state of
American politics, and the ways various religious communities participate in public life.
POLARIZATION AND SORTING
Another important trend in American politics is increasing political polarization, the widening ideological distance between
political parties, and its spillover effects. In recent decades, the two parties have become more ideologically cohesive and
more distant from one another, and the most politically engaged Americans are now deeply divided into two distinct partisan
camps.
Party polarization has been growing in Congress since the 1970s. For most of the 20 th century, many Members of Congress
were ideological moderates. Now, all Republicans and all Democrats in Congress cluster together ideologically, and neither
party has many moderates.
22
“Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” UN, December 10, 1948, Accessed December 10, 2019. Available at: https://www.un.org/en/
universal-declaration-human-rights/
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