Political Science
The study of governance reveals the need for transcendent grounding of rights, justice, and legitimate authority—foundations that secular philosophy struggles to provide.
Justice and Authority
Political concepts presuppose moral realities. Justice, legitimacy, and obligation are moral categories that politics cannot generate from itself.
The Divine Algorithm's orientation toward the greatest good provides a framework for political ethics. Political authority is legitimate when it serves human flourishing according to objective moral standards.
- Justice: Claims about justice presuppose objective moral standards. 'That's unjust!' is a moral claim, not merely a preference.
- Legitimate Authority: What makes authority legitimate? Mere power is not enough. Might does not make right. Authority must serve the good.
- Limits on Power: Tyranny is wrong—but this requires moral standards above the state. The state is not the highest authority.
- Natural Law: The natural law tradition grounds political obligation in moral reality accessible to reason. Unjust laws are not truly laws.
Religion and Political Order
The relationship between religion and political order is complex but inescapable. Even secular states have quasi-religious elements and depend on moral capital they cannot generate.
Jürgen Habermas, a secular philosopher, acknowledged that liberal democracy depends on moral resources it cannot produce. Religion provides the 'motivational resources' for democratic citizenship.
- Civil Religion: Even secular states have quasi-religious elements—symbols, rituals, sacred texts. The Constitution functions as a sacred document.
- Moral Consensus: Democratic deliberation requires shared moral premises—often religiously grounded. Without common values, democracy becomes mere power struggle.
- Prophetic Critique: Religion provides resources for critiquing unjust political orders. Martin Luther King Jr. appealed to divine law against segregation.
- Transcendent Accountability: Rulers are accountable to God, not just to voters. This limits political power and grounds resistance to tyranny.