Abstract

This dissertation seeks to define the proper role for religious discourse in the American public square. I contend that religious viewpoints should be welcomed in public discourse, though this is often not the case. This project examines the background of current conceptions of religion as divisive, dogmatic, and dangerous when allowed into the public realm, and offers a model for constructive religious public discourse. My thesis includes an examination of the concept of prophecy as exemplified by the Hebrew prophets, with a specific focus on Amos. ;I begin my study by examining the impact of the Enlightenment on the American ethos. The Enlightenment was influential in two important ways. First, it was instrumental in shaping Americans, attitudes toward religion. Second, Enlightenment philosophy directly impacted America's founders as they established the laws of the new nation. ;I use Michael Walzer's notion of the connected social critic to argue that the prophetic model is a constructive way for religious groups to participate in American public discourse while avoiding the pitfalls of secularization and arguments based in religious dogma. In particular, Walzer's notion of the connected critic can be applied to public theology to create a new, frankly and distinctively religious voice in American public debate. I examine the impact of public theology in America, as exemplified in the lives and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Reinhold Niebuhr. Both men can be seen as effective social critics who embodied the prophetic model and effectively communicated religious messages to a secular society. ;Additionally, I analyze the role of religious testimony before the National Bioethics Advisory Commission in their deliberations on human cloning and embryonic stem cell research. This analysis illuminates current conceptions of the role of religion in public debate. I conclude this section by discussing how public theology can reengage in the public sphere through involvement in bioethics issues