RSS03.30 Does God Have a Vote? Religion & Modern Democracy

The separation of Church and State: it is one of the key stones of (almost) all modern democracies. Does that mean that God has no place, let alone a vote, in the ins and outs of democratic politics? Does He have a place – and in a way a vote as well – in the political minds of those citizens who define themselves as believers? Democratic citizens are free, free to choose the politicians and the politics they want. So, they are free to choose for a place – and maybe a vote – for God within the democratic system. But in that case the question is whether this is possible at all without threatening the very foundation of democratic politics? How can a nation vote for God and stay democratic? And can a democracy give God a genuinely democratic vote? Is God a citizen? Can He be a voter? Can he be allowed to the electorate? 

This kind of questions are less theoretical as it seems. Some current theocratic regimes do pretend to be democratic. Think of the one in power in Iran. And authoritarian regimes tie up the bond with religion in order to polish their democratic glance. It is what, in Russia, links Putin to Kiril.

In the Radboud Summer School “Does God Have a Vote? Religion & Modern Democracy”, these questions are approached and discussed from a variety of angels, historical, theological, philosophical, sociological as well as from the perspectives of political theory and religious studies. How does a reference to God (including an expulsion of God) function in a democracy? Since we realize that God is still a political factor of the first order, that question cannot but be taken seriously. Hence this Radboud Summer School.