Freedom of religion and the prophetic role of the church

Abstract

This article investigates the prophetic role of the church in the South African society where the right to freedom of religion is entrenched. It firstly warns that the risk is real that the prophetic voice of the church can become silent and that the church can be co-opted by the agenda of the state that grants this right to religious freedom. Secondly it argues that the prophetic voice of the churches can become silent, because churches are not equipped to fulfil their prophetic calling in a way which is appropriate to the demands of a democratic society where the freedom of the plurality of religious and nonreligious world views are constitutionally recognised. By drawing insights from James Gustafson’s distinction between four modes of moral discourse, namely prophetic, narrative, ethical/technical and policy, it is argued that churches can fulfil their prophetic task in our democratic culture where the right to religious freedom exists, in a credible way if they participate in the ethical/technical discourse. It is suggested that churches view the decision to participate in this discourse, that is the option for moral deliberation, not as optional but as a moral choice, that these moral positions are made as far as possible cognitively accessible to non- Christians, that churches strive to reach moral consensus with other role players without becoming unfaithful to their convictions, that churches table their religious convictions in the moral debate in a way that is, as far as possible, accessible to non-Christians, and that churches ensure that people with low or no schooling and who are in various ways marginalised, are included in this moral deliberation.