Secularism is categorically not saying that the religious may not speak out publicly or have a say in public life. It is about saying that religion alone should not confer a privileged say in public life, or greater influence on it. It really is as simple as that.
There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere.
A strong case can be made for religious leaders to speak out on political issues.
Harvard is a wondrously tolerant climate for debate and exchange among a wide variety of thoughts, backgrounds, and beliefs, but the voice of religion on campus is largely inaudible.
A Church that has lost its voice for justice is a Church that has lost its relevance in the world.
Religion's voice has been taken away. It was taken away by Lyndon Johnson in the 1970s because of a dispute he had, I think, with the church. And this was his way of silencing the church.
There is much depressing evidence that the religious voice is required to stay out of the public square only when it is pressed in a conservative cause.
