Abstract
This chapter describes legislator faith beliefs based on their evangelical or liberal multilayered moral worldviews. These views are not merely tools that are used but symbolic boundaries by which preferences are molded, values are shaped, and political perspectives are informed. Contributing to these ideological differences is the changing religious landscape in America. These opposing visions represent deep cultural divisions that influence state legislative decision-making, especially for members of the LGBTQ community.
TopMoral Disagreement And Value Conflicts
The modern world is not only characterized by moral disagreements and value conflicts but also aware of such disagreements and conflicts (Knoll, 2020). Rawls describes a “modern democratic society . . . characterized not simply by a pluralism of comprehensive religious, philosophical, and moral doctrines but by a pluralism of incompatible yet reasonable comprehensive doctrines” (Rawls, 2005).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Worldview: A concept that attempts to articulate how someone believes, interprets, and makes sense of their reality.
Denominations: Refers to a set of congregations that belong to a single administrative structure, characterized by doctrines and practices; can be classified as Protestant Fundamentalist, Churches of God, Latter Day Saints, Churches of Christ, Church of the Nazarene, Mennonites, Conservative Baptist Association, Missouri Synod Lutherans, Pentecostal Free Will Baptists, Pentecostal Holiness, the Salvation Army, Seventh-Day Adventists, Southern Baptists, and Wisconsin Synod Lutherans.
Ideology: In this book, the term applies to ideas and beliefs that have political ramifications.
Traditionalism: The theory that all moral and religious truth comes from divine revelation passed on by tradition, human reason being incapable of attaining it.
Secular Humanism: A belief that humanity is capable of morality and self-fulfillment without belief in God.
Nullification: A legal theory that a state has the right to nullify, or invalidate, any federal laws that state has deemed unconstitutional with respect to the United States Constitution, which has never been legally upheld by federal courts.
Morality: Concern with the distinction between good and evil, right, and wrong, or right or good conduct.
Premillennialism: The view that Christ’s return begins the thousand-year reign.
Postmillennialism: The view that Jesus Christ will return to earth after believers “rule and reign” for a thousand years.
Fundamentalism: A literal interpretation of the Bible and the application of that reading to all areas of a person's life; can belong to a variety of denominations.
Evangelical: Christians who actively seek to proselytize and convert others; can be a variety of political perspectives (includes Pentecostal and charismatic Christians).
Protestantism: The theological system of any of the churches of Western Christendom that separated from the Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation.