Prior to the forum and now in its wake, people ask: how involved should a church get in politics? Rick Warren explains his position in an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg:

I believe in the separation of church and state, but I do not believe in the separation of politics from religion. Faith is simply a worldview. A person who says he puts his faith on the shelf when he’s making decisions is either an idiot or a liar. It’s entirely appropriate for me to ask what is their frame of reference.

I’m with Rick Warren on this, though I can understand why secularists pale at politicians “submitting” themselves to a pastor’s interview. Secularists argue that public policy should not be defined by any particular religious values: “A neutral secularism which neither grants a preference nor imposes a burden upon any particular religious system is preferable in a pluralistic and free society” (Austin Cline).

The key to this disagreement is that secularists have a narrow definition of religion while Evangelicals have a broad definition of religion. Secularists see religion as beliefs that are confinable to private practice. Evangelicals say their beliefs drive every aspect of their lives, both public and private.

In general, the more devout a believer (of any faith), the broader their definition of religion. Devout believers see that all aspects of their lives are driven by their core beliefs about the world. And since secularists also have a set of values that drive their decision-making, secularism is a “religion” (broadly defined) — a worldview, on the same level as any other religion, whether or not they would call it such or not.

In politics, then, all voters aim for the common good. What that is and how to get there depends on one’s worldview. Since elections are manifestations of a state’s values, neither secularists nor people of faith should feel compelled to mute their worldview. Christians voting their values are no more an imposition of their faith on others as secularists voting their values. This is what civil dialogue and the political process is for and I for one am glad to see Rick Warren take a step in this direction.