Rorty, religion and the public-private distinction

This article explores the question of the role of religion in the public square through the lens of Richard Rorty's more general public-private distinction. When we note his various positions over the years on the role of religion in the public square we observe a shift that yields a more favorable public role for religion so long as it limits itself to social action and refrains from making knowledge-claims that serve as tools of the powerful. But if, according to Rorty, religion per se is no longer the problem, then what becomes of his efforts to endorse a more general public-private distinction? The argument set forth assesses the inadequacies and limitations of Rorty's assumptions about the public-private split and suggests another way of framing the issue that will prove productive in debates concerning the role of religion in the public square.