The Limits of Liberal Democracy

Book excerpt: Exploring the question of the place of religion in the modern nation-state, Scott H. Moore observes that the easy alliance between the modern liberal democracy and Christian faith in particular is showing some serious stress fractures. He offers an incisive analysis of the ways government, operating according to the ideals of a liberal democracy, has encroached on religious freedom and how the church, of both liberal and conservative leanings, has largely acquiesced. Moore offers a bracing critique of the limits of liberal democracy that calls for and points the way toward a more faithful engagement of Christians with public life--a participation that takes seriously the reality of the Christian church and both the private and public moral teachings of its Scriptures.