Religious communities can advocate coercive laws that serve non-believers

Evidence

Therefore, it is not a question of if we should engage in work to benefit those around us. It is a question of how broadly we define the “us” who benefits. The gospel can and does empower us to enter more deeply into our neighbors’ needs, serving them out of gratitude to God. We can advocate for “coercive” policies—like the Voting Rights Act—that benefit all our neighbors. To do so faithfully in a pluralistic society, however, requires us to build coalitions for the public good, collaborating and cooperating with our neighbors no matter how different we perceive them to be. We will need to practice humility, vulnerability, and empathy in a way that befits the gospel. — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 94

Categorization

• QUESTION: Whitehead reclaims ‘coercive policy’ approvingly — worth tracking how he distinguishes this from the coercion Christian nationalists seek. The Voting Rights Act as a religiously endorsed coercive law is a telling case in the religious-freedom debate.
• XREF: connects to: Religion functions as the enabling power behind a preferential legal system — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 1014

Broader Connections

• Religion functions as the enabling power behind a preferential legal system #expands (0.78) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 1014