on Religious Liberty and Christian Higher Education
February 12, 2017
The Two Kingdoms Network is pleased to present seven perspectives on the current conditions of religious liberty in our culture and the implications for Christian and other religious colleges and universities. Our contributors are recognized and published scholars in this field.
At this writing, many observers are considering related implications of political changes at the state and national levels of government. Regulatory bodies may be refocusing their oversight. Several new appointments to the federal courts are pending including one or more Supreme Court justices. Readers can assess these matters from a two-kingdoms framework as well as from other comprehensive frames of reference.
Political Liberalism, Religious Liberty, and Christian Higher Education
Francis J. Beckwith, Professor of Philosophy and Church-State Studies, Baylor University, author of Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith (Cambridge University Press, 2015)What is now known as political liberalism—though having its roots in the works of Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), John Locke (1632-1704), Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)—is of fairly recent origin. Its point, according to its most important advocate, John Rawls (1921-2002), is to provide an answer to this problem:
The Future of Religious Liberty
Howard Friedman, University of Toledo College of Law Professor of Law Emeritus, Founder/Editor of Religion Clause, http://religionclause.blogspot.com/Religious liberty risks being a victim of its own success in the United States. In a society that has traditionally been highly protective of religious liberty, claims for religious accommodation and religious exemptions have been weaponized. Federal statutes—the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act—as well as religious freedom laws and state constitutional protections in 32 states, have given religious claims of exemption a preferred status.
Religious Liberty for Christian Higher Education and the Common Good
Micah J. Watson, William Spoelhof Teacher-Scholar Chair in Political Science, Calvin College, co-author of C. S. Lewis on Politics and the Natural Law, J.B. Dyer and M.J. Watson (Cambridge University Press, 2015).There are so many clouds and controversies on the horizon for Christian higher education that charting a course for the near and intermediate future is a daunting task. While there have always been challenges unique to Christian colleges and universities, the mission and means to achieve such education in decades past seem in retrospect more straightforward than in the current climate.
The High Calling of Christian Higher Education
Stanley Carlson-Thies and Chelsea Langston Bombino, The Center for Public Justice
Faith-based institutions of higher education are not motivated primarily by political goals nor by avoidance of legal or reputational losses. Christian colleges and universities have a more transcendent calling: to live out their transformative, Gospel-centered, missions in every aspect of their institutional lives. Christian colleges adopt organizational practices, take up public policy work, and cultivate a positive public witness in order comprehensively to incarnate their Christ-centered raison-d’etre in public life.
Then and Now: Pushing Christianity Out of Education
Steven D. Smith, San Diego University School of Law, author of The Rise and Decline of American Religious Freedom (Harvard University Press, 2014)
Deja vu. The Fourth Century witnessed a major culture war, as paganism and Christianity struggled for mastery in the Roman Empire. The theaters of conflict were diverse. One major struggle was over public symbols: so the shrine to the pagan goddess Victory, placed outside the Senate house by the emperor Augustus, was maintained, then removed, then reinstated, then removed again, and later fiercely fought over as pagan and Christian emperors succeeded each other.
Catholic Universities and Religious Freedom
Richard Garnett, Paul J. Schierl/Fort Howard Corporation Professor of Law and Concurrent Professor of Political Science at Notre Dame Law School; co-author of First Amendment Stories by R. Garnett and A. Koppelman (Foundation Press, 2011).In my academic writing, I’ve focused on the freedom that religious institutions—to including religious colleges and universities—should enjoy to construct and act in accord with their distinctive religious character, mission, and commitments. I’ve also tried to highlight the important “structural” role that such institutions play in our social order and the ways that they not only benefit from, but also contribute to, the rule of law and the common good.
The Road Ahead: Opportunities, Challenges, Dangers – and Prayer
Tobin Beck currently oversees the journalism program at Concordia University, Nebraska, after concluding his 27 years at United Press International as executive editor.The political climate in the United States and the new power structure in Washington pose opportunities, challenges, and potential dangers for Christians and Christian education. The opportunities include the hope that Congress and the White House will make decisions that avoid harmful intrusion into religion. For many, there is hope that Congress and the Supreme Court will do more to protect the unborn against abortion. There is hope that government will enhance the ability of church-run schools to meet the needs of children beyond their traditional pool of students, and hope that government will avoid forcing churches to act against conscience. Among the challenges is how to ensure that President Donald Trump and other leaders will be wise in their governance.
The symposium is free to print, duplicate, and link in part or in full. Each article includes a link to its PDF format. Please include proper citation and credit to the authors who have freely and generously contributed their work. The order of the series has been randomized. Inclusion does not imply endorsement by The Two Kingdoms Network or Concordia University, Nebraska. We are grateful for the authors' insights.
