Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T18:31:30.296Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

How, When, and Why Do Religious Actors Use Public Reason? The Case of Assisted Dying in Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 March 2019

Steven Kettell Open the ORCID record for Steven Kettell [Opens in a new window]
Steven Kettell*
Affiliation:
University of Warwick
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Steven Kettell, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The public reason criterion is a prominent theme in contemporary political theory. Yet scholars have focused predominantly on conceptual and normative issues at the expense of empirical questions about the language used by actors engaged in political debate. This is a particular problem in the case of religious actors, whose underlying motives for taking part in such debates are frequently driven by theological concerns. This paper explores these issues by analyzing religious opposition to the legalization of assisted dying in Britain. It shows that religious actors have tended toward the use of secular rather than theological modes of argumentation, and that this is consistent with the idea of a strategic shift in response to the increasingly secularized nature of British society.

Type
Article
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , June 2019 , pp. 385 - 408
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Affinity 2004. “Memorandum to the Select Committee on Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill”, 20 August 2004, https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldselect/ldasdy/86/5020316.htmGoogle Scholar
Anscombe Bioethics Centre 2014. “Eight Reasons not to Legalize Physician Assisted Suicide”, http://bioethics.org.uk/EightReasonsNottoLegalizePAS.pdfGoogle Scholar
Anscombe Bioethics Centre 2015. “Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: A Guide to the Evidence”, 10 August 2015, http://www.bioethics.org.uk/evidenceguide.pdfGoogle Scholar
Asad, T. 2003. Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Association of Catholic Nurses for England and Wales 2004. “Memorandum to the Select Committee on Assisted Dying”, https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldselect/ldasdy/86/5020319.htmGoogle Scholar
Association of Catholic Women 2004. Memorandum to the Select Committee on Assisted Dying, August 2004: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldselect/ldasdy/86/5020320.htmGoogle Scholar
Association of Hospice and Palliative Care Chaplains 2004. “Memorandum to the Select Committee on Assisted Dying”, https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldselect/ldasdy/86/5020321.htmGoogle Scholar
Audi, R. 1993. “The Place of Religious Argument in a Free and Democratic Society.” San Diego Law Review 677–702.Google Scholar
Audi, R. 2000. Religious Commitment and Secular Reason. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bader, V. 2009. “Secularism, Public Reason or Moderately Agonistic Democracy?.” In Secularism, Religion and Multicultural Citizenship, eds. Levey, G.B. and Modood, T.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 110–136.Google Scholar
Bishop of Plymouth 2005. Oral evidence to the Select Committee on Assisted Dying, 13 January, at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldselect/ldasdy/86/5011304.htm and https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldselect/ldasdy/86/5011304.htmGoogle Scholar
British Social Attitudes 2017. British Social Attitudes, 34th report.Google Scholar
Bruce, S. 2013. “Post-secularity and Religion in Britain: An Empirical Assessment.” Journal of Contemporary Religion 28(3):369–384.Google Scholar
Burdette, A.M., Hill, T.D., and Moulton, B. 2005. “Religion and Attitudes Towards Physician-Assisted Suicide and Terminal Palliative Care.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 44(1):79–93.Google Scholar
Calhoun, C. 2008. “Secularism, Citizenship, and the Public Sphere.” Hedgehog Review 10(3):7–21.Google Scholar
Catholic Bishop's Conference of England and Wales 2005. “Evidence to the Select Committee on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill”, Volume II: Evidence, April 2005, The Stationery Office, London. HL Paper 86-II.Google Scholar
Catholic Bishop's Conference of England and Wales 2014. Plenary Resolution: Assisted Suicide, 9 May, at: http://www.catholicnews.org.uk/Home/News/2014/April-June/Assisted-Suicide/(language)/eng-GBGoogle Scholar
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland 2012. Response to the Health and Sport Committee, at: http://www.parliament.scot/S4_HealthandSportCommittee/Assisted%20Suicide%20Bill%20submissions/CatholicBishopsConferenceofScotlandASB453.pdfGoogle Scholar
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland 2015a. Written evidence to the Health and Sport Committee, ASB453, 27 January 2015, at: http://www.parliament.scot/S4_HealthandSportCommittee/Meeting%20Papers/papers_for_web_-_27_January_2015.pdfGoogle Scholar
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland 2015b. Oral evidence from John Deighan to the Health and Sport Committee, 27 January 2015, at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=9750Google Scholar
Catholic Medical Association 2012. Response to the Health and Sport Committee, document 50, April 2012 at: http://web.archive.org/web/20150321160511/http://www.patrickharviemsp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Assisted-Suicide-Responses-from-Organisations-30-to-end.pdfGoogle Scholar
Catholic Parliamentary Office 2012. “Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill, A Response from the Catholic Parliamentary Office”, April 2012, Document 34 at: http://web.archive.org/web/20150321160511/http://www.patrickharviemsp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Assisted-Suicide-Responses-from-Organisations-30-to-end.pdfGoogle Scholar
Catholic Union of Great Britain and the Guild of Catholic Doctors 2004. Memorandum to the Select Committee on Assisted Dying, 2 September, at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldselect/ldasdy/86/5020323.htmGoogle Scholar
Chaplin, J. 2008. Talking God: The Legitimacy of Religious Public Reasoning, London: Theos.Google Scholar
Christian Action Research and Education 2004. “Memorandum by CARE to the Select Committee on Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill”, Minutes of Evidence, August 2004, at: https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldselect/ldasdy/86/5020338.htmGoogle Scholar
Christian Action Research and Education for Scotland 2012. Evidence to Health and Sport Committee, at: http://www.parliament.scot/S4_HealthandSportCommittee/Assisted%20Suicide%20Bill%20submissions/CAREforScotlandASB393.pdfGoogle Scholar
Christian Action Research and Education for Scotland 2015. Written statements to the Health and Sport Committee, ASB393, at: http://www.parliament.scot/S4_HealthandSportCommittee/Meeting%20Papers/Papers_for_meeting_-_3_February_2015_(Web).pdfGoogle Scholar
Christian Medical Fellowship 2004. “Memorandum by the Christian Medical Fellowship, Select Committee on Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill”, Minutes of Evidence, August 2004, at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldselect/ldasdy/86/5020324.htmGoogle Scholar
Christian Medical Fellowship 2006. “Assisted dying”, Spring 2006, at: http://www.cmf.org.uk/resources/publications/content/?context=article&id=1792Google Scholar
Christians in Parliament 2012. Clearing the Ground Inquiry: Preliminary Report into the Freedom of Christians in the UK, February 2012, at: https://www.eauk.org/current-affairs/publications/upload/Clearing-the-ground.pdfGoogle Scholar
Church of England 2012a. “Policy on Assisted Dying”, General Synod, 6 February 2012. at: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2018-01/synod%20summary%20feb%2012.pdfGoogle Scholar
Church of England 2012b. “Response to ‘Safeguarding Choice: A Draft Assisted Dying Bill for Consultation’”, November 2012, at: https://www.churchofengland.org/media/1583626/assisteddyingbillresp.pdfGoogle Scholar
Church of England/Catholic Bishop's Conference of England and Wales 2004. “Letter from the Church of England House of Bishops and the Catholic Bishops” Conference of England and Wales, 2 September 2004. Available at https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldselect/ldasdy/86/5011302.htmGoogle Scholar
Church of Scotland 2010. “Supplementary Report of the Church and Society Council End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill”, May 2010. Available at: http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/3439/ga10_reports_churchsociety_suppendoflife.pdfGoogle Scholar
Church of Scotland 2012a. Response to the Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill, 30 April 2012, Document 21, at: http://web.archive.org/web/20150321171315/http://www.patrickharviemsp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Assisted-Suicide-Responses-from-Organisations-16-30.pdfGoogle Scholar
Church of Scotland 2012b. Submission to the Health and Sport Committee, at: http://www.parliament.scot/S4_HealthandSportCommittee/Assisted%20Suicide%20Bill%20submissions/ChurchofScotlandChurchandSocietyCouncilASB397.pdfGoogle Scholar
Church of Scotland 2015. Evidence by the Church and Society Council, ASB397, at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/CurrentCommittees/95060.aspxGoogle Scholar
Ciszewski, W. 2016. “Narrow or Broad? Questioning the Scope of Public Reason.” Nauki Humanistyczne 14:79–96.Google Scholar
Clements, B 2014. “Religion and attitudes towards euthanasia in Britain: Evidence from opinion polls and social surveys”, 3 January 2014, at: http://www.brin.ac.uk/2014/religion-and-attitudes-towards-euthanasia-in-britain-evidence-from-opinion-polls-and-social-surveys/Google Scholar
Clements, B. 2015. Religion and Public Opinion in Britain: Continuity and Change. London: Palgrave.Google Scholar
Connolly, W. 2000. Why I Am Not A Secularist. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Edinburgh Evening News 2015. “Right-to-die supporters protest as Holyrood votes”, 27 May 2015.Google Scholar
Engelke, M. 2009. “Strategic Secularism: Bible Advocacy in England” Social Analysis 53(1):39–54.Google Scholar
Evangelical Alliance in Scotland 2012a. Response to the Consultation on the Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill, April 2012, Document 15, at: http://web.archive.org/web/20150321174728/http://www.patrickharviemsp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Assisted-Suicide-Responses-from-Organisations-1-15.pdfGoogle Scholar
Evangelical Alliance in Scotland 2012b. Evidence to the Health and Sport Committee, at: http://www.parliament.scot/S4_HealthandSportCommittee/Assisted%20Suicide%20Bill%20submissions/EvangelicalAllianceScotlandASB416.pdfGoogle Scholar
Evening Standard 2015. “Archbishop writes in the Evening Standard on assisted dying”, 9 September.Google Scholar
Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches of Scotland 2012. Evidence to the Health and Sport Committee, at: http://www.parliament.scot/S4_HealthandSportCommittee/Assisted%20Suicide%20Bill%20submissions/FellowshipofIndependentEvangelicalChurchesScotlandASB143.pdfGoogle Scholar
Field, CD 2014. “Another Window on British Secularization: Public Attitudes to Church and Clergy Since the 1960s.” Contemporary British History 28(2):190–218.Google Scholar
Foster-Fulton, S. 2015. Evidence to the Health and Sport Committee, 27 January, at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=9750Google Scholar
Free Church of Scotland 2012. Response from the Free Church of Scotland, April 2012, Document 37, at: http://web.archive.org/web/20150321173909/http://www.patrickharviemsp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Assisted-Suicide-Formal-Replies-36-to-end.pdfGoogle Scholar
Free Church of Scotland 2015a. Written submission to the Health and Sport Committee, ASB207, at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=9750Google Scholar
Free Church of Scotland 2015b. Oral evidence to the Health and Sport Committee by Rev MacDonald, 27 January 2015, at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=9750Google Scholar
Gill, R. 2005. Oral evidence by Robin Gill to the Select Committee on Assisted Dying, 13 January, at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldselect/ldasdy/86/5011304.htm and https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldselect/ldasdy/86/5011304.htmGoogle Scholar
Habermas, J. 2006. “Religion in the Public Sphere.” European Journal of Philosophy 14(1):1–25.Google Scholar
Hamil-Luker, J. and Smith, C. 1998. “Religious Authority and Public Opinion on the Right to Die.” Sociology of Religion 59, 379–391.Google Scholar
Herald 2011. “MacDonald to resume assisted suicide fight”, 17 May.Google Scholar
Herald 2013. “BMA and churches oppose law change”, 13 March.Google Scholar
Herald 2015a. “Knowledge of the facts cuts assisted dying backing”, August 22.Google Scholar
Herald 2015b. “Muslim leaders intervene in assisted suicide debate”, 26 May.Google Scholar
Herrera, Y.M. and Braumoeller, B.F. 2004. “Symposium: discourse and content analysis”, Qualitative Methods, Spring.Google Scholar
Hsieh, H-F and Shannon, S.E. 2005. “Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis.” Qualitative Health Research 15(9):1277–1288.Google Scholar
Huffington Post 2015. “Why the Church of England, as a matter of principle, is opposed to assisted suicide”, 15 January, at: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/james-newcome/assisted-dying_b_6479690.html?1421343345&.Google Scholar
Hunt, S.J. 2007. “The Rhetoric of Rights in UK Christian Churches Regarding Non-Heterosexual Citizenship.” Politics and Religion 4(2):183–200.Google Scholar
Hunt, S. 2014. “Christian Lobbyist Groups and the Negotiation of Sexual Rights in the UK.” Journal of Contemporary Religion 29(1):121–136.Google Scholar
Independent Methodist Churches 2011. Evidence to the Commission on Assisted Dying, at: https://web.archive.org/web/20160327124816/http://commissiononassisteddying.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Brian-Rowney-Independent-Methodist-Churches.pdfGoogle Scholar
Islamic Medical Association 2012. Evidence to the Health and Sport Committee, at: http://www.parliament.scot/S4_HealthandSportCommittee/Assisted%20Suicide%20Bill%20submissions/IslamicMedicalAssociation-UKASB422.pdfGoogle Scholar
Jelen, T. 2005. “Political Esperanto: Rhetorical Resources and Limitations of the Christian Right in the United States.” Sociology of Religion 66(3):303–321.Google Scholar
Kelly, E. and McPherson, L. 2001. “On Tolerating the Unreasonable.” Journal of Political Philosophy 9(1):38–55.Google Scholar
Kettell, S. 2013. “I do, Thou Shalt not: Religious Opposition to Same-sex Marriage in Britain.” Political Quarterly 84(2):2013.Google Scholar
Kettell, S. 2018. “You Can't Argue with God: Religious Opposition to Same-sex Marriage in Britain.” Journal of Church and State. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcs/csy056Google Scholar
Laborde, C. 2013. “Justificatory Secularism”, In Religion in a Liberal State: Cross-Disciplinary Reflections, eds. D'Costa, G., Evans, M., Modood, T. and Rivers, J.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 164–186.Google Scholar
Machin, G.I.K. 1998. Churches and Social Issues in Twentieth-Century Britain. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Maclure, J. 2006. “On the Public use of Practical Reason: Loosening the Grip of neo-Kantianism.” Philosophy and Social Criticism 32(1):37–63.Google Scholar
McCarthy, B. 2012. “Response to the Report of the Commission on Assisted Dying”, Church of England Mission and Public Affairs Division, January 2012, at: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/innovation/REF/UoA20/Lewis/falconercommresponse.pdfGoogle Scholar
Muslim Council of Scotland 2012. Submission on Assistance Suicide (Scotland) Bill, Document 14, at: http://web.archive.org/web/20150321174728/http://www.patrickharviemsp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Assisted-Suicide-Responses-from-Organisations-1-15.pdfGoogle Scholar
Observer 2015. “Archbishop urges MPs to reject Assisted Dying Bill”, 6 September.Google Scholar
Office of the Chief Rabbi 2005. Memorandum by the Office of the Chief Rabbi, at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200405/ldselect/ldasdy/86/5011303.htmGoogle Scholar
Perry, M.J. 2001. “Why Political Reliance on Religiously Grounded Morality Does not Violate the Establishment Clause.” William and Mary Law Review 42(3):663–683.Google Scholar
Quong, J. 2004. “The Scope of Public Reason.” Political Studies 52:233–250.Google Scholar
Rawls, J. 1971. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Rawls, J. 1997. “The Idea of Public Reason Revisited.” University of Chicago Law Review 64(3):765–807.Google Scholar
Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland 2012. “Evidence to the Health and Sport Committee”, at: http://www.parliament.scot/S4_HealthandSportCommittee/Assisted%20Suicide%20Bill%20submissions/ReformedPresbyterianChurchofScotlandASB390.pdfGoogle Scholar
Rorty, R. 2003. “Religion in the Public Square: A Reconsideration.” Journal of Religious Ethics 31(1):141–149.Google Scholar
Rostant-Bell, M. 2014. “Analysis of submissions of evidence on the Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill”. Commissioned by the Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee, SP Paper 587 Web only Session 4.Google Scholar
Sajo, A. 2009. “Constitutionalism and Secularism: The Need for Public Reason”. Cardozo Law Review 30(6):2401–2429.Google Scholar
Scotsman 2010. “Catholic Church vows to block Margo MacDonald's end-of-life bill”, 22 January.Google Scholar
Scotsman 2012. “The sixth sense”, 30 December.Google Scholar
Scotsman 2013a. “Vulnerable at risk from assisted dying”, 27 April 2013.Google Scholar
Scotsman 2013b. “Assisted suicide safeguards ‘do not reassure’”, 19 December 2013.Google Scholar
Scotsman 2015. “Religious leaders to criticise assisted dying bill”, 27 January.Google Scholar
Scottish Catholic Observer 2012. “Dangerous’ assisted suicide report”, 13 January.Google Scholar
Scottish Daily Mail 2015. “Why, as a Church, we are utterly opposed to the right to die law”, 27 January.Google Scholar
Scottish Episcopal Church 2012a. Submission to the Health and Sport Committee, ASB400, at: http://www.parliament.scot/S4_HealthandSportCommittee/Assisted%20Suicide%20Bill%20submissions/GeneralSynodoftheScottishEpiscopalChurchASB400.pdfGoogle Scholar
Scottish Episcopal Church 2012b. Response from the Faith and Order Board and Doctrine Committee, April 2012, at: https://www.scotland.anglican.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/response-to-assisted-suicide-scotland-bill-from-scottish-episcopal-church-april-2012.pdfGoogle Scholar
Scottish Episcopal Church 2014. Submission on Assisted Suicide Bill, available at: https://www.scotland.anglican.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Submission-on-Assisted-Suicide-Bill-by-Scottish-Episcopal-Church-Faith-and-Order-Board.pdfGoogle Scholar
Scottish Episcopal Church 2015. Oral evidence to the Health and Sport Committee from Harriet Harris, 27 January, at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=9750Google Scholar
Sharp, S. 2016. “Belief in Miracles and Attitudes Towards Voluntary Euthanasia.” Death Studies 41(4):211–219.Google Scholar
Sharp, S., Carr, D., and Macdonald, C. 2012. “Religion and end-of-Life Treatment Preferences: Assessing the Effects of Religious Denomination and Beliefs.” Social Forces 91(1):275–298.Google Scholar
Sikora, J. 2009. “Religion and Attitudes Concerning Euthanasia: Australia in the 1990s.” Journal of Sociology, 45(1):31–54.Google Scholar
Stepan, A. 2000. “Religion, Democracy, and the ‘Twin Tolerations’.” Journal of Democracy 11(4):37–57.Google Scholar
Sunday Herald 2010. “Religious leaders attack proposal for the right-to-die”, 19 September.Google Scholar
Telegraph 2009. “Religious leaders call for end to ‘legal euthanasia’”, 29 June.Google Scholar
Telegraph 2012a. “Assisted suicide as disastrous as abortion, says Archbishop”, 7 February.Google Scholar
Telegraph 2012b. “Let's not be afraid to talk about death”, 14 May.Google Scholar
Telegraph 2014a. “Lord Carey's judgement on assisted dying is un-Christian”, 18 July.Google Scholar
Telegraph 2014b. “Ephraim Mirvis: Instead of promoting assisted dying, we should help the living”, 18 July.Google Scholar
Times 2005. “Does a right to assisted death entail a responsibility on others to kill?” 20 January.Google Scholar
Times 2006. “Assisted dying: joint faith leaders’ letter to the Times”, 12 May.Google Scholar
Times 2014a. “Archbishop Justin writes for the Times on the Assisted Dying Bill”, 11 July.Google Scholar
Times 2014b. “Most believers back assisted dying despite opposition of church leaders”, 16 July.Google Scholar
Times 2015. “Keir Starmer and the Assisted Dying Bill”, 31 August.Google Scholar
Thomas, J.N. 2014. “Outsourcing Moral Authority: The Internal Secularization of Evangelicals’ Anti-Pornography Narratives.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 52(3):457–475.Google Scholar
Today Programme 2006. “Assisted Dying”, 12 May 2006, full text at: http://aoc2013.brix.fatbeehive.com/articles.php/753/assisted-dying-the-today-programmeGoogle Scholar
United Reformed Church 2012. Evidence to the Health and Sport Committee, at: http://www.parliament.scot/S4_HealthandSportCommittee/Assisted%20Suicide%20Bill%20submissions/ChurchandSocietyCommittee-UnitedReformedChurchSynodofScotlandASB279.pdfGoogle Scholar
Williams, R. 2010. Presidential Address to the General Synod by the Archbishop of Canterbury, 8 February 2010.Google Scholar
Wolterstorff, N. 2010. Justice: Rights and Wrongs. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar