Secularists try to keep religious arguments out of public square

One

of the tactics of orthodox secularists in the "clash of orthodoxies" is

to attempt to deny the validity of the arguments of the religiously

orthodox because the arguments are based on faith and not reason. The

secularists allow that the religious are free to believe and act on

their beliefs, "just don't impose your beliefs on the public." In the

secularist's view, there is no room in the public square for religion.

Though this is the current received wisdom of the secularists, it

reverses centuries of American history and millennia of Western history.

This secularist approach is as fresh as the day's news. Recently,

the United States House of Representatives passed broad health-care

legislation. In order to get enough votes to pass, the legislation was

amended to include language that would prevent federal funds for

abortions. Laced within the general outcry by abortion proponents was

an attack on the role religion played in the passage of the

abortion-restricting language.

Huffington Post ran a piece, "Do Catholic bishops run the United

States government?" Huffington Post blogger Jane Hamsher wrote,

"Democrats in Congress have just proudly signed a deal with Catholic

bishops which allows a bunch of old men who have spent the better part

of the last century avoiding their own sexual issues to dictate access

to abortion services in the House health-care bill."

Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, co-chair of the Congressional

Progressive Caucus, noting the "hardball" tactics of the United States