Abstract
US civil society is arguably in decline if not effectively endangered. Civil society refers to a shared associational and discursive space of political inquiry, deliberation, and decision making among all citizens with different viewpoints about pressing issues that confront our common life and that connect to the common good. According to theologians and ethicists such as David Tracy, Francis Fiorenza, Jeffrey Stout, and Rebecca Chopp (Carbine 2006), practices that foster civil society in an increasingly pluralistic global setting are intertwined with civic virtues of mutual respect for the life, liberty, and equality of others, especially religious others. These virtues ground and emerge from the giving and exchanging of arguments, listening to and speaking with others in publicly accessible ways that recognize but bridge religious differences, and a willingness to consent to, dissent from, and/or risk a changed opinion about matters of common concern. By contrast, judging from recent political trends, US political discourse and public life are currently fractured, marked by a culture of labels and lies, which eviscerates civil society and its virtues.
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© 2013 Ada María Isasi-Díaz, Mary McClintock Fulkerson, and Rosemary P. Carbine
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Carbine, R.P. (2013). Revitalizing US Civil Society by Reconceptualizing Civil Religion and Its Virtues. In: Isasi-Díaz, A.M., Fulkerson, M.M., Carbine, R.P. (eds) Theological Perspectives for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. New Approaches to Religion and Power. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137372215_12
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