Secret Faith in the Public Square

Recent decades have seen no shortage of debate on the role of religion, and specifically Christianity, in American public life. Following John Rawls's proposal that all political discourse must meet the demands of “public reason,” this discussion has often focused on the place of religious discourse in public debate. Other scholars have examined the complex relationship between church and state, arguing both that faith enriches public life and that American liberalism poses a threat to Christian discipleship. Even more recently, some theologians have argued that political participation is a form of Christian discipleship, showing the ways public engagement enriches Christian faith. But, to my knowledge, none propose that Christians should keep their religious identities secret when engaged in public life. This is just what Jonathan Malesic asks Christians to do in Secret Faith in the Public Square: An Argument for the Concealment of Christian Identity. Contrary to those who worry that religion might wreak havoc in the democratic order, Malesic, who writes as a Christian theologian to a Christian audience, worries more about the damage public life might cause the Christian faith. Some Christians use their religious identity “as a form of currency” for personal, political, or financial gain (13). Public spheres such as government and economy pose dangers to the distinctiveness and integrity of the Christian tradition. As he puts it, the “Christian church in America ... is susceptible to overidentifying with American culture and making American political, economic, and social creeds into de facto doctrines” (207). Although one may question what constitutes the “distinctiveness” of the Christian tradition and whether Malesic's diagnosis depends on overdrawn distinctions between religious and secular, church and world, I suspect that most theologians would sympathize with the concerns that motivate Malesic's proposal and admire his determination to promote a publicly engaged, authentic Christian witness.

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