Gina Lee

Introduction

When analyzing the concept of religion, morality, and worldview, one cannot help but see that these separate concepts intersect at some point during reflection. When relating each idea with public policy, one truly cannot express each concept in its wholeness without integrating all three. Upon analysis, the way religion, morality, and worldview influences policy has been left to much debate and controversy. Should religion, objective morality, and worldview play any role in public policy? If so, can the establishment clause of the First Amendment still be protected? Such questions have been raised. Worldview and its concepts of morality and religion brings forth its own conclusions about the world. Views that stand in antithesis to each other “bring forth two totally different conclusions, both for individuals and for society” (Schaeffer, 1981, p.20). This analysis will seek to highlight three effects of religion, morality, and worldview as it relates to public policy.

Religion and Public Policy

Michael Minkinberg writes that there is a visible religious impact on policy and that cultural differences are predictors of “political mobilization” (2002). One specific sector of policy where religion plays an influential role is the issue of abortion, for abortion integrates religion and morality. Minkinberg highlights how the concern of the people become public matters. He brings to light how countries such as France, Germany, and Greece have been impacted by the catholic faith and that the United States is influenced more by Protestantism. Secular culture would state there is a decline of religious worldview in the “age of modernity” and the “shrinking significance of religion in public life” (2002); however, this thesis proves to be not completely accurate.

Secularization, in and of itself, or separating church and state does not lead to freedom within abortion laws, or the “liberalization of abortion” (2002), nor does full establishment of a religion, as seen in some countries, enhance legislation against abortion. According to Minkinberg, deregulation nor regulation set the foundation for religious impact on abortion policy; however, “high religiosity”, a culture of being active and present in church and religious activities, breeds more restrictive abortion policies. “[R]eligiosity, is a better predictor of public policy than is institutional differentiation, especially when religious doctrine is also taken into account” (2002). Culture and belief systems, forming the lens by which life is seen, is what impacts policy. Though there is ongoing secularization of culture, religion is still a beacon in the realm of public policy (2002).

Morality and Public Policy

Hon-Lam Li writes on the controversy of the death penalty. Capital punishment has been debated for centuries, regarding its moral bases. Li brings insight into some of the hesitancies surrounding the notion of capital punishment. He states: “Even if the criminal procedure is followed flawlessly, a mistaken verdict can still result because there is an epistemic gap between the evidence and the verdict” (2017). Li also sheds light on the fact that DNA evidence can overturn a case, though not all cases have DNA evidence to provide.

Li provides evidence for his thesis by sharing the story of North Carolina v. Ronald Cotton Jr. In this true story, one can find the case of mistaken identity. It was a rape case that left Cotton in prison for 11 years; however, DNA exonerated him and put the actual rapist behind bars. Thus, the controversial topic leaves some states with the death penalty and some banning the policy due to an issue of conscience where morals and ethics stand as a reason, for some, to be against capital punishment.

Worldview and Policy

How one sees the world is how ideas transpire into reality. When it comes to policies that protect the unborn or justly solidify capital punishment, one’s rationale and convictions become the foundation for how one chooses to create or influence policy. Christopher P. Scheitle and Katie E. Corcoran examine the worldview influences of college students. Scheitle and Corcoran highlight the misconception that people who hold religious ideas are the only ones with a worldview.

Politics, family background, and philosophy can influence people in general. “[B]eing nonreligious is likely not simply the absence of a religious worldview, but the presence of a different worldview” (2020). We can see this in policies such as same sex marriages, or the normalization of gender changes and identity issues. How one sees the world forms their opinion concerning morality and ethics. One does not have to be “religious” to have strong opinions about the world. A person’s upbringing and connections made throughout their life form their lens to how they see reality and what they believe to be truth.

Conclusion

If policy makers do not believe in absolutes and conclude that all opinions are relative, then they will reject any notion of objective truth and will conform to caricatures of virtue; they will see life through their own reality–whatever is popular during a given time. Religion, morality, and worldview play an important role in policy; regarding Christendom and biblical truth, secular notions that are an antithesis to God’s wisdom cannot coexist as truth. Public policy will look “religious” when a Christian is creating many policies; however, it is not merely religion being the foundation, but a Christian living life through his worldview that holds objective truth instead of wavering conclusions.

References

Corcoran, Katie E. and Scheitle, Christopher P. (2020). More Than Nothing: Examining the Worldview Influences of Nonreligious College Students. Review of Religious Research, 62(2), 249-271. https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/doi/full/10.1080/0731129X.2017.1358912

Lam Li, Hon. (2017). Contractualism and the Death Penalty. Criminal Justice Ethics, 36(2), 152-182. https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/doi/full/10.1080/0731129X.2017.1358912

Schaeffer, Francis A. (1981). A Christian Manifesto. Crossway.

Minkenbery, Michael. (2002). Religion And Public Policy: Institutional, Cultural, and Political Impact on the Shaping of Abortion Policies in Western Democracies. Sage Journals, 35(2).