Religious Studies 346:
ETHICAL CONFLICTS AND RELIGIOUS VALUES
Spring 2009
Tuesday and Thursdays, 3:30-4:45 PM (Plumas 102)
Professor Andrew Flescher
Trinity 247
aflescher@csuchico.edu; x-5534
Office Hours T/TH 12:45-3:15 PM, and by appointment
What role does religion play in contemporary ethical debates in our pluralistic, secular society? To what extent is religion necessary both for understanding morality and for being able to act morally? Can there be any agreement in society when our convictions are formed by disparate traditions? Can morality exist, on its own, without religion? What ought the role of religion to be in the public square? What fuels the conflicts surrounding the “culture wars” which pervade public discourse, and which inevitably surface each election cycle? Does the disestablishment clause of the first amendment imply the separation of church and state? What was the intent of the founding fathers? What are some arguments in favor of and against faith-based initiatives? What of the presence of the ten commandments on court house steps, or the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance? What should society say, if anything, about sexual orientation and the institution of marriage? How does religion figure into the ethics of war and reconciliation?
This course serves as an introduction to Western (Jewish, Christian, Muslim and secular) moral traditions and to the ethical, political, and public policy positions that these traditions have informed. The course first explores, theoretically, the interface between religion and morality and subsequently delves into specific issues that have surfaced in contemporary American society, particularly during election years (e.g., faith-based initiatives; same-sex marriage; the “war on terror”). We will examine these issues in light of some broad normative concerns that arise in the field of religious studies, such as justice, love, autonomy and rights, utilitarianism, self-sacrifice, gender, virtue, community, and narrative. In the process, we will approach these problems from disparate ends of the political spectrum, reading representatives of conservative, moderate and liberal thinking from Jewish, Christian, Muslim and secular perspectives. My hope is that the readings and ensuing discussions in the course will prompt you to re-think your existing stance on some or all of these issues, even if only to reconfirm your original thoughts about them.
I understand that many of you are coming into this course with perhaps strong opinions already in place. That is natural and perfectly fine. My aim is simply to help you to grasp and to appreciate a multitude of positions that one potentially could espouse in consideration of these complicated issues. You will probably find a point of view akin to your own represented in at least one of the readings from any section, and it will be interesting for you to see this view challenged by other perspectives. While the structure of the course is to compare the positions of religious and secular thinkers to whom you are exposed, you will be encouraged to engage in critical reflection in order to refine your original convictions. Thus, in thinking about where you stand, please bear in mind that very intelligent people have marshaled arguments in defense of quite opposite points of view. In preparing for discussion each session, I ask you to do what you can to focus on the readings at hand; try as best you can to understand the arguments to which you are exposed before simply dismissing them because they oppose your own intuitions.
General Education Upper-Division Thematic: E
This course meets the general education upper-division thematic requirements of theme E: Ethics and Social Policy. In light of this fact, this course will seek to provide students with an opportunity to study the relationship between moral values you, as a member of society, hold, and their embodiment in the social institutions that affect your daily life. In this course, you will explore ethics as a philosophical theory, a social and cultural phenomenon, and as a matter of practical decision-making.
Class will meet two times per week. Typically, I will lecture and then the discussion will open up. If the readings are particularly difficult, I may lecture the entire class. However, I want to emphasize how important discussion is to succeeding in this course. At the end of each section during the semester, we will try to devote a full class to having a debate over the featured issue. During these sessions, I will try to speak as little as possible. In order to contribute, you must be present, both physically and mentally. This means you must: (1) do the reading and (2) show up to discuss it. You will be expected to contribute when the discussion opens up. Please remember to bring the assigned reading with you to every class. The reading is substantial and at times will be difficult. Do not despair. I will help you to understand the concepts and the authors’ arguments, and I will go out of my way to answer any questions that you may have. Please consider, however, that adequately understanding these authors necessarily requires effort on both of our ends. I cannot stress strongly enough that attendance is absolutely mandatory. Your attendance grade will be lowered for every missed class; five absences will result in failure of the course. (I will take attendance in every session.)
Students with Certified Disabilities
Please notify me of any special need relating to your disability within the first two weeks of the semester. I will make every reasonable effort to facilitate your success in this course. Please note that you may be required to show documentation of your disability.
Grading breaks down as follows:
10%: Attendance (and Discussion) Grade---you start with an “A+”
1 missed class = B+
2 missed classes = B-
3 missed classes = C
4 missed classes = D+
5 missed classes = F (in entire course, not just attendance grade)
20%: Test on Section 1 of course---February 24th
20%: Test on Section 2 of course---March 26th
20%: Test on Section 3 of course---April 16th
30%: Final, 8-10 page (on War and Reconciliation)---May 21st
Please Note:
In an emergency, if you miss any of the three exams, then you must hand in a ten page paper, topic to be arranged, due at the beginning of the very next class period.
Academic Honesty
Cheating/plagiarism constitutes the worst possible thing that you can do as a student. It is automatically grounds for failure of the course. When writing papers, any ideas that are not your own require acknowledgement. Thus, even if you are paraphrasing someone else’s views you must always indicate the source. If you ever have any doubts, cite the source. If you still have doubts, contact me. Plagiarism and cheating are grave violations of the academic integrity policy of the California State University, Chico. This policy (EM 04-36) is posted at http://www.csuchico.edu/prs/EMs/EM04/em04_36.htm .We view plagiarism and cheating as serious offenses. The policy of the Department of Religious Studies is that anyone found to have blatantly cheated or plagiarized on an assignment will automatically fail the course and be referred to student judicial affairs for further disciplinary action.
Required Texts for Purchase
Section I: Is Religion Necessary for Moral Deliberation?
January 27th: Course Introduction---Religion and Morality
January 29th: Is there a Unified Religious Ethics?
Reading:
Ronald Green, “The Deep Structure” (Course Packet)
Martin Luther King, Jr., Speeches and Writings “An Experiment of Love,” “A Christmas Sermon on Peace;” and “The World House,” pp. 16-20; 253-258; 617-633
February 3rd: Morality in Need of Religion I: The Argument from Natural Law
Reading:
Pope John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth), part I (Course Packet)
February 5th: Morality in Need of Religion II: The Argument from Revelation
Reading:
Norman Geisler, “Can Atheists Justify Being Good Without God? (Course Packet)
Norman Geisler, “Any Absolutes? Absolutely!” (Course Packet)
February 10th: Atheist Response I: Morality Does not Need Religion
Reading:
Kai Nielsen, “God and the Good: Does Morality Need Religion?” (Course Packet)
Richard Dawkins, “The Roots of Morality: Why are we Good?” (Course Packet)
February 12th: Atheist Response II: Religion is bad for Morality
Reading:
Richard Dawkins, “The ‘Good’ Book and the Changing Moral Zeitgeist” (Course Packet)
February 17th: A Middle Ground: Universal Truth Without Universal Justification
Reading:
John P. Reeder, Jr. “Foundations without Foundationalism” (Course Packet)
February 19th: Discussion of Part I
February 24th: Exam on Section I
Section II: Religion in the Public Square
February 26th: Are we a “Judeo-Christian” Nation?
Reading:
Steven Waldman, Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America, pp. ix-71
Wall Street Journal Article: “10 Commandments vs. 7 Aphorisms: A New Religion Covets Legitimacy” (Course Packet)
March 3rd: The Separation of Church and State
Reading:
Steven Waldman, Founding Faith, pp. 72-140
March 5th: What was the Intent of the Founding Fathers? What has the Supreme Court Decided?
Reading:
Steven Waldman, Founding Faith, pp. 141-206
Patrick M. Garry, “The Myth of Separation: America’s Historical Experience with Church and State” (Course Packet)
March 10th: Arguments for and Against Faith-Based Initiatives
Reading:
Barack Obama, “Faith” (Course Packet)
Andrew Flescher, “Barack Obama’s Endorsement of Faith-Based Initiatives: Bringing Religion to the Public Square in the Context of the Separation of Church and State” (Course Packet)
March 12th: A Case Study in Culture Wars: Teaching about Evolution and Creationism
Reading:
Troy Jollimore, “Intelligent Design in the Classroom?” (Course Packet)
William A. Dembski, “Teaching Intelligent Design as Religion or Science?” (Course Packet)
Week of March 17th: Spring Break
Reading over Spring Break: Jeffrey Stout, “The Folly of Secularism” (Course Packet)
March 24th: Discussion of Section II and airing of West Wing episode on Religion and Politics
March 26th: Exam on Section II
Section III: Religion, Sexual Orientation and Marriage
March 31st: No Class, Cesar Chavez day
Reading:
California’s Proposition 8: Analysis and Arguments For and Against (Course Packet)
Pew Forum: Religious Groups' Official Positions on Same-Sex Marriage (Course Packet)
April 2nd: California’s Proposition 8 and the Opposition from the Christian Right
Reading:
Southern Baptist Churches Resolutions on Same-Sex Marriage (Course Packet)
Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae (Course Packet)
April 7th: Defending the Heterosexual Norm: Probing Arguments for Moral and Legal Restraint
Reading:
The Ramsey Colloquium, “The Homosexual Movement” (Course Packet)
Michael Levin, “Why Homosexuality is Abnormal” (Course Packet)
April 9th: Religious, Moral, and Legal Cases for Gay Marriage
Reading:
Judith Plaskow, “Toward a New Theology of Sexuality” (Course Packet)
Richard D. Mohr, “The Case for Gay Marriage” (Course Packet)
April 14th: Discussion of Part III
April 16th: Exam on Section III
Section IV: Religion and the Ethics of War and Reconciliation
April 21st: The Just War Tradition: Jus ad Bellum and Jus in Bello
Reading:
Michael Walzer, Arguing about War, pp. 3-50
April 23rd: Religion, War, and the Case of Terror
Reading:
Michael Walzer, Arguing about War, pp. 51-142
April 28th: Israel/Palestine; Iraq; and the War on Terror: Just War? A Western Crusade?
Reading:
Michael Walzer, Arguing about War, pp. 143-224.
April 30th: Religion, War and Suicide Bombing
Reading:
Talal Asad, On Suicide Bombing, pp. 1-38
May 5th: Is the Just War Tradition Still Applicable? A Critique of Walzer
Reading:
Talal Asad, On Suicide Bombing, pp. 39-96
May 7th: Religious Pacifism
Reading:
Martin Luther King, Jr., Speeches and Writings, Excerpts on Nonviolence, pp. 5-74 (especially “The Power of Nonviolence”); “Eulogy for Martyred Children,” pp. 221-223
May 12th: Rejecting Just Violence and the Prophetic Response to Realism:
Reading:
Martin Luther King, Jr., Speeches and Writings, “I See the Promised Land,”pp. 279-288; “A Testament of Hope,” pp. 313-330
May 14th: Discussion of Section IV
May 21st: Final Paper is Due at my Office by 4: PM---No Exceptions
Bibliographical information: Course Packet
1) Ronald Green, “The Deep Structure,” (from Religion and Moral Reason, 1988)
2) Pope John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth, part I, 1993)
3) Norman Geisler, “Can Atheists Justify Being Good Without God?” (Christian Worldview Network, November 2008)
4) Norman Geisler, “Any Absolutes? Absolutely!” (Christian Research Institute, 1995)
5) Kai Nielsen, “God and the Good: Does Morality Need Religion?” (Theology Today, April 1964)
6) Richard Dawkins, “The Roots of Morality: Why are We Good?” and “The ‘Good’ Book and the Changing Moral Zeitgeist (from The God Delusion, 2006)
7) John P. Reeder, Jr. “Foundations without Foundationalism” (from Prospects for a Common Morality, ed. Gene Outka and John P. Reeder, 1993)
8) “10 Commandments vs. 7 Aphorisms: A New Religion Covets Legitimacy,” from The Wall Street Journal (November 13th, 2008)
9) Barack Obama, “Faith” (from The Audacity of Hope, 2006)
10) Patrick M. Garry, “The Myth of Separation: America’s Historical Experience with Church and State” (Hostra Law Review, Winter 2004)
11) Andrew Flescher, “Barack Obama’s Endorsement of Faith-Based Initiatives: Bringing Religion to the Public Square in the Context of the Separation of Church and State” (2008, under review)
12) Jeffrey Stout, “The Folly of Secularism” (Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 2004 Presidential Address)
13) Troy Jollimore, “Intelligent Design in the Classroom?” (2005, under review)
14) William A. Dembski, “Teaching Intelligent Design as Religion or Science?” (Princeton Theological Review, April 1996)
15) California’s Proposition 8: Analysis and Arguments For and Against (2008)
16) Pew Forum: Religious Groups' Official Positions on Same-Sex Marriage (April 2008)
17) Southern Baptist Churches Resolutions on Same-Sex Marriage (June, 2003)
18) Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae (1968)
19) The Ramsey Colloquium, “The Homosexual Movement” (First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, March 1994)
20) Michael Levin, “Why Homosexuality is Abnormal” (The Monist, April 1984)
21) Judith Plaskow, “Toward a New Theology of Sexuality” (from Standing Again at Sinai, 1990)
22) Richard D. Mohr, “The Case for Gay Marriage” (Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy, v.9, no.1---1995)