Monotheistic Faith and the Cosmopolitan Conscience

Abstract

The central focus of this book draws us into a question sweeping the globe, namely, what is the relation between, on the one hand, religious convictions—say, beliefs in God and ideas about revelation and sacred scriptures—and, on the other hand, political loyalties, including ideas about the rule of law. Three things about this topic seem obvious, at least to me: first, religion will not go away but is in fact shaping global and local social life, so the idea of a purely secular future is not really a viable one; second, the rule of just law is at risk in part because of disputes raging in many countries about the pressure that religious and cultural diversity puts on legal systems; and third, global dynamics—economic, cultural, technological, environmental, and so on—arising out of modern social conditions are going to spread and to accelerate, thereby forging deep connectivity among the peoples of the world that can be the cause of conflict as well as cooperation.1 KeywordsHuman DignityPolitical AuthorityPolitical LoyaltyReligious LifeReligious ConvictionThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.