PPOL 500
The Role of Religion, Morality, and Worldview Play in the Creation of Public Policy
PPOL 500: Intro to Public Policy
Religion, morality and worldview play a big role in the creation of public policy.
However, there must be an understanding to what public policy actually is. Relating back to
Shawn Akers, public policy is an idea combined with governmental action (Akers 2020, 0:1:34
to 0:1:44). Anyone who influences a government to either take an action or to not take an action
has transformed an idea through governmental action into policy (Akers 2020 0:1:54 to 0:2:11).
Furthermore, public policy can also be defined as anything a government chooses to do or not
to do. How I would define public policy is sets of rules and regulations which affects citizens
livelihood.
Worldview is interpreted as the intellectual, spiritual, and emotional framework by
which we interpret life (Fischer 2020, 0:1:06 to 0:1:16). It represents his/her fundamental
beliefs about the world. In a biblical sense, humans are created in God’s image and they have
free will instead of random chance. Therefore, any policy that does not aligned with a biblical
worldview perspective does not gain support.
“The Role of Christian Belief in Public Policy” was written by Robert D. Orr in 2007.
This article offers a Christian perspective on public policy. Orr comes to a conclusion that “it is
neither possible or desirable for Christians to try to force their views on others. Still, it is
obligatory for Christians to stand up and articulate their views in the public square.” Therefore,
he believes the best solution would be to use prudential or moral arguments (Orr 2007, 199).
He starts by offering insight from another theologian, Carl F. H. Henry. Henry states that God
is “the source, stipulator, and sanction of the right and good. He is the ultimate ground law and
morality.” With this quote, one can infer that faith tradition is greater than moral views based
The Role of Religion, Morality, and Worldview Play in the Creation of Public Policy
PPOL 500: Intro to Public Policy
Religion, morality and worldview play a big role in the creation of public policy.
However, there must be an understanding to what public policy actually is. Relating back to
Shawn Akers, public policy is an idea combined with governmental action (Akers 2020, 0:1:34
to 0:1:44). Anyone who influences a government to either take an action or to not take an action
has transformed an idea through governmental action into policy (Akers 2020 0:1:54 to 0:2:11).
Furthermore, public policy can also be defined as anything a government chooses to do or not
to do. How I would define public policy is sets of rules and regulations which affects citizens
livelihood.
Worldview is interpreted as the intellectual, spiritual, and emotional framework by
which we interpret life (Fischer 2020, 0:1:06 to 0:1:16). It represents his/her fundamental
beliefs about the world. In a biblical sense, humans are created in God’s image and they have
free will instead of random chance. Therefore, any policy that does not aligned with a biblical
worldview perspective does not gain support.
“The Role of Christian Belief in Public Policy” was written by Robert D. Orr in 2007.
This article offers a Christian perspective on public policy. Orr comes to a conclusion that “it is
neither possible or desirable for Christians to try to force their views on others. Still, it is
obligatory for Christians to stand up and articulate their views in the public square.” Therefore,
he believes the best solution would be to use prudential or moral arguments (Orr 2007, 199).
He starts by offering insight from another theologian, Carl F. H. Henry. Henry states that God
is “the source, stipulator, and sanction of the right and good. He is the ultimate ground law and
morality.” With this quote, one can infer that faith tradition is greater than moral views based
