Summary
Nigel Biggar counters the idea that religious people should leave religion out of it when they contribute to public discussion.
My view is that there’s no such thing as a view from nowhere, so anyone who is making a contribution to public discussion has a view, and that view will have certain presuppositions. It doesn’t matter whether you are Marxist or Aristotelian or Nietzschean or Christian or Hindu. And some people say that, because religious views are baffling to non-religious people, that we who are religious, when we come to talk in public, we should just leave that stuff behind and talk sensible secular language. To which my response is, well, no, because bafflement is a normal moment in human interchange. If you are a Marxist, you will say things that baffle me too. So bafflement is equal, this is an equal bafflement field. My view is that religious people and Marxists and neoliberals and whoever they are, we should all be allowed to say our piece in public. Obviously if a Marxist keeps bashing my head with Marx or if I am, as a Christian, bashing your head with the Bible, we may not be very persuasive. We may not be very persuasive and if we’re going to have an impact, we will learn there are prudent ways in which to say our piece and imprudent ways. But I certainly think that the notion that religious people should keep their religious mouths shut is wrong. It’s not liberal.
