Religiös argumentation i samhällsdebatten

Att argumentera med religiösa argument eller från en religiös utgångspunkt i samhällsdebatten brukar vara hyfsat --> utmobbat <--. Det finns hägrande falluckor och dåliga exempel med denna typ av argumentation. Men det finns också goda exempel som visar varför det är naturligt att en genuin tro kan berika och ge form och tyngd åt argumentation i samhällsdebatten. Det mest kända (och kanske bästa) exemplet är Martin Luther King Jr's berömda tal under frihetsmarschen i Washington 1963. Nedan följer talets lite mindre kända slut, vilket får exemplifiera min poäng.

...

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists,
with its governor having his lips dripping with
the words of interposition and nullification -
one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able
to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted,
and every hill and mountain shall be made low,
the rough places will be made plain,
and the crooked places will be made straight;
and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair
a stone of hope.
With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation
into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
With this faith, we will be able to work together,
to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together,
to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day - this will be the day when all of God's children
will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring,

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring,
when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet,
from every state and every city,
we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children,
black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics,
will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Till slut lite intressant kuriosa:

Pastor King avvek från sitt manuskript (och återgick aldrig) när han började använda den klassiska frasen: "I have a dream...". Han hade använt denna i tidigare, tal men stundens ingivelse (kan kanske läsas som den heliga andes ingivelse?) ledde honom att åter använda dessa ord.
Resten är historia som det heter.