Taylor Talk with Friends

Without a robust public square which includes, rather than excludes explicitly religious convictions, "the liberal ideal becomes deeply anti-humanist.  And, like it or not, we need a theology to arrest this degeneration" (36).  Last night, I read through the remaining five chapters of the first section in Rowan Williams' book, Faith in the Public Square .  Though these chapters address a diverse array of topics, a theme emerges that religious faith is a needed component for a healthy secular society.

I have just finished reading a chapter in Rowan Williams' book  Faith in the Public Square , entitled "Has secularism failed?"  Reading this work is part of my recently begun PhD program, as I attempt to gain a broader understanding of Charles Taylor and his model of a 'social imaginary.'  Taylor is now most know for his major work  A Secular Age  which sets out to tell the story of 'how we got here' in the 21st century.  As such, Williams' chapter could be read as a score card for our secular age, an evaluation which reinforces many of Taylor's own critiques and comments of the world we experience.