Recurrent themes in President Barack Obama's speeches have been the need to give adequate weight to the "common good" and to find a new balance of the "me" and the "we". To cross boundaries that divide us; to care for others; to be inclusive; to fulfill responsibilities, not just claim rights; and to hold the future on trust for those who follow us.
Reverend Carol Finlay, a Toronto Anglican priest, points out that these are some of the beliefs the monotheistic faiths share, and what they teach as a basis for our personal and social lives. She writes: "They all emphasise putting the other before oneself; love for a transcendent Being first, then love for neighbour; special care for the poor, marginalised, older people, parents; rules of behaviour (holiness) with accountability (yes, even liberal Christians); that a meaningful life comes from service; there is meaning in suffering; ... and the unseen is the most powerful aspect of the universe and our lives."
She asks, "Without religion's role, where do we find these values in our society as firmly and clearly stated? What would we lose if religion was taken out of the mix in our society?"
The secularists' -- atheists' and humanists' -- response is, "nothing". Indeed, they go much further. Many of them believe religion is seriously harmful, even evil. All believe religion has no valid role in our shared values formation and no place in the public square of a secular society. They base their arguments on the doctrine of the separation of church and state.
They are correct that "we can be good without God". But can we get our shared values across so powerfully or well if we exclude religious voices? In particular, these voices may be needed to activate all our human ways of knowing, not just reason, which the secularists see as the only valid way. In short, we need a conjunctive, not disjunctive, approach. We need both religion and secularism, and must build bridges between them.
Let me be clear: We are secular, democratic societies and there is rightly a separation of church and state. But that separation does not mean religious voices have no place. Rather, it means the state, and its laws and public and social policy, are not based directly on religious beliefs and laws as they are in Islamic societies such as Iran. - Margaret Somerville, MercatorNet (click below for full article)
http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/the_campaign_against_god/