Reinhold Niebuhr and Religion in America

http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/video/2008/wallace/niebuhr_reinhold.html

In this interview with Mike Wallace in 1958, Reinhold Niebuhr discusses religion in the pluralistic society of America. Wallace asks Niebuhr if a separation between Church and State is necessary if religion is good for society. Niebuhr responds that if religion is good, then the state should not intervene with it, but if religion is bad, meaning it gives ultimate sanctity to a particular cause, then it must not interfere with the state. Wallace then proceeds to ask Niebuhr if the Roman Catholic Church infringes upon civil liberties in America, since they are against birth control and divorce. Neibuhr answers that Roman Catholics have the right to enforce a standard within their own community, but that the Roman Catholic Church does not have the right to enforce its conception of divorce and birth control upon secular people. Not every standard of every church is a good standard for society in general, an issue that, as Niebuhr states, is a major issue in a democratic and pluralistic society that must be resolved by dealing with the policies and attitudes of all groups in a utilitarian matter.