Two Perspectives on "Brexit"

At Sightings, The University of Chicago Divinity School's blog on the role of religion in public events, our Principal Investigators ponder the moral and religious significance of the United Kingdom's recent "Brexit" vote.

William Schweiker, the Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Theological Ethics at The University of Chicago Divinity School, ponders "The Ethics of 'Brexit.'" If we examine "Brexit" from an ethical perspective, he writes, "what is obvious is the immense attraction of forms of 'moral particularism.'" The "Brexit" vote, he contends, "means that many people in the UK have rejected the European Project and with it the horrendous failures open to criticism by all but also the commitments and global hopes it represents." Read the full post here.

By contrast, Günter Thomas, Professor of Systematic Theology and Ethics at Ruhr-University Bochum in Bochum, Germany, sees "Brexit" as "the beginning of the democratic secularization of a political religion." Assessing reactions to the "Brexit" vote, Thomas writes that "most criticism of the Brexit now follows the logic and even the rhetoric of believers who cannot believe that there are unbelievers – without asking them why they cannot believe." Read the full post here.

Photos courtesy of Tomek Nacho and Pete Lambert via Flickr.