Mark Noll, Professor of history at Notre Dame University, gave a speech at the University of Florida today describing the power of scripture, and how the Bible has been used to support public power. Although Noll is considered "evangelical," he personally despises the term and would love to see religion and politics co-exist peacefully, as they have sometimes done in our history.
As for people who reject religion because of the violence they think religious difference can cause, Noll says religion has brought about more peace than violence. He thinks the fact that religious violence is reported constantly in the media causes people to associate religion with violence. In his books, Noll writes about an "anti-intellectual streak" in America. He thinks many people are not as well informed as they should be when it pertains to issues surrounding religion. Noll hopes that the people who attended the lecture can see the many different ways that scripture has been put to use in American history, and that they can think more about how scripture can be put to use in the future.
In my opinion, I would agree with Noll. I too, would love to see the world co-exist despite any political, racial, or economic differences. However, as long as human beings are capable of opinions, I feel that may not happen. As it stands, politics and religion are very rarely willing to give in to the other side, and until both sides learn to compromise, peace may not be found.
There will also always be some fraction of the population that does not possess any strong sense of faith, and that side will never see the practicality of using religion to run a country instead of reason or politics.
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