多維視野中的美國政教關係：憲法、政治和文化的分析

20世紀七十年代始的全球宗教復興及宗教在公共和政治生活中的最終強勢回歸，使政教關係問題再次引起了學界的關注。這也引發了美國政教關係研究的又一個高潮。日益顯明的是，長期以來的美國政教關係是一個包括憲法、政治和文化等多維度在內的穩定結構：在憲法安排上，政府和教會這兩大組織機構、兩大權力中心被要求保持適當距離；在政治生活中，教會是政府的密切夥伴，新教是美國政治體制和法律體系的根基；在社會文化上，新教信念和新教價值觀居於美國文化的核心，提供了共和國必需的身份認同和民族凝聚力。當代美國深陷「文化戰爭」和「路線之爭」的窘境，根源即在於這一穩定結構因多元主義極度擴張和新教共識被打破而幾近坍塌，極端的政教分離做法在此過程中則起到了推波助瀾的作用。美國的政教關係觀念和實踐有其不可複製的獨特性，不宜於被奉為公認的法律或政治準則予以普遍適用。

"The global religious renaissance since the 1970s and the strong return of religion in public and political life have once again aroused academic attention. It has also led to another research climax in the relationship between state and church in America. It is increasingly clear that there for a long time has been a multi-dimensional stable structure in America: In constitution, the government and the church are required to maintain a discreet distance. In politics, the church is a close partner of the government, and Protestantism is the foundation of the whole political regime and legal system. Socially and culturally, Protestant beliefs and values lie at the heart of American culture, and provide the identity and national cohesion required by the Republic. Contemporary America is deeply in the dilemma of ''cultural war'' and ''line struggle'', which is rooted in the collapse of this stable structure due to the extreme expansion of pluralism and the break of Protestant consensus. Extreme separation of politics and religion has helped fuel the flames in this process. American concepts and practices of state-church relationship are unique and irreproducible, and therefore are not suitable for universal application as generally accepted a legal or political norm."