A lot
less than it did a half century ago, and a lot more than it will in the future.
Despite the alleged influence of faith in this election, I think
religion in American politics today is more of a proxy for a traditionalist
value system than it is a set of literal beliefs about supernatural beings and
their interest in us. For my long-term predictions in this area,
see
It's a
bedrock principle of the American polity, and I don't think it's nearly as
threatened as a lot of my fellow secularists assume. Half a century ago and
earlier, American politicians would refer to America as a Christian nation. Now
they just invoke a monotheistic Abrahamic God, and are far more likely to talk
about "spirituality" than about "Christianity".
How do you think
people will be able to resolve their diffrences over believing in god or not?
In the
political sphere, I think they pretty much already have: believers and
non-believers alike usually no longer object to the other as having a
politically inadmissible value system. In the cultural sphere, I think belief in
revelation about supernatural beings has been diluted and hollowed out, and the
more interesting difference is now between naturalists and
mystics.
What are your feelings about Pro-Life?
I disagree with the "pro-life" position, not because I'm "pro-choice", but
because I'm anti fetal personhood. Being "pro-choice" on abortion is as
coherent as being "pro-choice" on slave-owning. The position actually being
advocated is the non-personhood of fetuses and slaves, respectively. But "No
personhood for fetuses" is not a very fun bumper sticker, and so opponents of
fetal personhood choose to obscure the real issue.
What do you think about the war on Iraq?
I
believe that a small-L libertarian should agree with my position described
above. A Big-L Libertarian (i.e. a party member) would typically oppose almost
any foreign intervention, because they value their own hands being clean over
other humans being free.
Do you think the current partisan based
electoral system needs to be redesigned?
Despite all the problems with America's
government, the U.S. Constitution has nevertheless created the single
institution that in all human history has done by far the most good for
humanity. I would be very cautious about tinkering with it, but I do like the
idea of instant run-off voting.