Abstract

In the United States, there is a lively debate on the relationship between religion and politics. The separation of Church and State is the assumption of most liberal thinkers. From their perspective, such separation not only protects the State from religion, but also protects religion from the State. The first part of the present research will examine the contemporary liberal debate on religion and politics, which is based on Rawls' version of political liberalism and its critics. The second part will explore three religious discourses: the traditional, ideological and democratic discourses in contemporary Islam (in the case of Iran) with particular emphasis on the democratic discourse. This paper will also demonstrate important similarities that exist between the essential claims and arguments of some contemporary Iranian religious reformists and some liberal thinkers. It comes to the conclusion that Rawlsian political liberalism has no conflict with religious ideas, but provides an ideal environment to flourish religious values in a pluralistic society. Also, it will show that Iranian Islamic reformists, in contrast to their portrayal by some researchers as opposing Western liberal democracy, endorse Rawlsian political liberalism and support it with an Islamic interpretation of life.