Using the Bible as Proof-Text for Law and Policy

It's becoming more common for politicians to explain and justifying their votes on proposed laws by arguing that the laws are authorized by the Bible. The problems started with Republicans beholden to the Christian Right, but even Democrats are getting in on the act. This represents a political failure and an inability of politicians to do their job properly.

Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, wrote last year:

There is plenty of religious dialogue – and some screaming – in the public square now, and I certainly don’t want to squelch it. But laws made by legislators must be rooted in constitutional values and reasoned analysis, not someone’s personal take on scripture. Put bluntly, if your representative in Congress can’t explain a vote on abortion or the environment without “proof-texting” it to the Bible, he or she has failed to do the work of a legislator in America. [...]

As a practical and principled matter I think religious people – left, right and center – must recognize what my colleague Dr. Bruce Prescott of Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists has written: “No faith group’s sacred scriptures, or interpretation of a sacred scripture, holds special or uncontested authority in the public square when public policies are being debated.”

Today’s religious majorities, or majority wannabees, need to understand that personal religious conviction and analysis is not a substitute for policy that seeks a common good that could be recognized as such by people throughout the 2,000 faith groups and diverse array of freethinking and non-believer communities in the nation.

Lynn isn't arguing that religious values have no place in debates about public policy; instead, he's arguing that one group's religious values have no special authority or status in debates about public policy. If a politician is seeking to explain or justify a proposed law, they must do so on the basis of the common good and in an way that is at least potentially relevant to all citizens. Focusing on the scriptures of one religion, and scriptural interpretations of one group within that religion, is not appropriate in a liberal democracy.

 

Read More:

• Separation of Church and State 101
• Secularism 101
• Religious Right
• Religious Right News
• Christian Privilege
• Christian Supremacy