User:Oberst/Religious democracy

Theocracy

Religious democracy means that the values of religion play a role in the public arena in a society populated by religious people. Religious democracy is an example of how democratic values can exist in a different cultural elaboration than what is usually known before. But, in a secular society, some other characteristic is deemed important and focused on, and that becomes the basis for democracy.

Democracy is one of the propositions that has always been afflicted with confusion and misunderstanding. Hence, many religious people are afraid of approaching it. We do not have one democracy but many democracies from ancient Greece to today, hence plurality of democracies in the international community. What emerged was that a democracy prevailed in different eras depending on the conditions of the time. What alters the hue and color of democracy is a society’s specific characteristics and elements.

Democracy where coincides with certain things, it can be secular or religious. But what occurs is coincidence, and not unity. Relativistic liberalism and democracy are not identical. According to some, democracy is not violated when a faith is embraced; it is violated when a particular belief is imposed or disbelief is punished.

Criticism
Two major idea against the religious democracy could be recognized.

•From the Secularism point of view, the ideals of a democratic society and a secular state are in unified. Therefore the firm separation of religion and state is insisted such that without this separation there can be no freedom from tyranny. Absolute sovereignty of the people dominates in this idea. Religion should be put aside from the scene of life in order to establish democracy and freedom.

•From the Legalism point of view, democracy can never enjoy a general acceptance in a religious society. Anything outside of the rigid, but pervasive, interpretation of the religious texts is rejected and the absolute sovereignty of God prevails such that there is no role for the sovereignty of people. The less freedom a society enjoys, the stronger religion will be.

American religious democracy
The most significant, public religious issue confronting America today is the relationship between Church and State. Secular opinion holds that the rise of religion in the public square is a threat to democracy that must be resisted. American Religious Democracy argues that this position, although understandable, is misguided. American political life after the 2004 Presidential election is best understood as a religious democracy, though not of a fundamentalist variety. The 2004 election clearly showed that a substantial number of voters in America now vote the way they do for what they consider to be religious reasons and that, as a result of their voting, government policy is changing to reflect their religious commitments. The result has been the creation of a religious democracy. However,taking part in a religious democracy, for Americans especially, requires a new understanding of what religion means in a public and political sense and how secularists can and should participate. The term "American Religious Democracy" recently used by Bruce Ledewitz.