How have religious groups impacted politics historically and currently? Explain?

Answer 1

I have heard it said by some authority figures claiming to represent the ‘one true god’ that god only communes with those who satisfy certain minimum requirements. A ‘pure heart', 'innocent mind', 'righteous life', ‘miraculous birth’, and or ‘super powers’ are phrases some use to characterize these requirements. Some agree that certain mythical individuals have met these noble requirements and communed with god. Some claim that the words of these mythical individuals offer communities of faithful believers a record of exclusive divine revelations of the discovery, words, will and laws of a good one in heaven at war with an evil one cast down to and ruling over Earth. Some believe the words of these mythical individuals were recorded in sacred scrolls that have become the foundation of their respective ideological traditions. Some believe that the words of these mythical individuals are true and accurately recorded. Maybe some measure the veracity of all other words by the words of these mythical individuals. Maybe some cite the actions of such mythical individuals as a standard of conduct for all to study and follow. Maybe some measure the righteousness of all other actions by the actions of these mythical individuals. Maybe some use record of the words and actions of such mythical individuals as a measure of the words and actions of all others who claim divine inspiration. Maybe some judge those whose words and actions do not measure up as being evil and those whose words and actions do measure up as being good. Maybe some think, believe and expect that their way of ornamenting a model of self and world with myth is good and all other ways are evil to a lesser or greater degree. Maybe some claim to know that their beliefs are true. Hence maybe some are Gnostic Theists.

Some authorities stand behind claims of exclusive divine revelations of spiritual knowledge with great conviction. Perhaps great conviction is enough to convince some people that these exclusive divine revelations of spiritual knowledge offer us spiritual truth. Others such as myself put claims of exclusive access to divine inspiration and the requirements, tests, standards, and dogma that follow from such claims in a larger box called ideology. An ideology is a body of ideas created for a purpose. One creates an ideology to satisfy the needs and aspirations of an individual, group, class, and or culture. Therefore, I consider the source of an ideology to understand whose and what needs and aspirations are being satisfied.

If the source of an ideology is a state dominated by a mercenary plutocratic predatory few, then I may expect that the needs and aspirations of the mercenary plutocratic predatory few will be satisfied. Why limit access to divine inspiration? Why not think, believe and expect that access to divine inspiration is limitless? I theorize that the myth of limited access to divine inspiration reflects the need and aspiration of a mercenary plutocratic predatory few to maintain and achieve authority, power, order, and control by establishing ideological authorities as intermediaries between communities of faithful believers and god. Once authority, order and control are achieved and maintained the mercenary plutocratic predatory few may then patronize those ideological authorities that best motivate communities of faithful believers to out work, out fight, and out number the rest of the planet and thereby satisfy the need and aspiration of the state dominated by a mercenary plutocratic predatory few to achieve and maintain power. From claims of exclusive access to divinely inspired truth follows the power to establish a standard of conduct that motivates communities of faithful believers to out work, out fight, and out number the rest of the global culture in a race to win in the game of survival and sacrifice. From claims of exclusive access to divinely inspired truth follows the power to make laws of God out of the laws of state. From claims of exclusive access to divinely inspired truth follows the power to make the idea of God into the ultimate state sponsored surveillance system. From claims of exclusive access to divinely inspired truth follows the power to define the meaning of life as a test of character and define the value of each individual according to their record of conforming to a standard of conduct. From claims of exclusive access to divinely inspired truth comes the power to threaten deviants with judgment by a good one in Heaven and eternal punishment in an abominable infernal place some call hell. From claims of exclusive access to divinely inspired truth comes the power to promise believers judgment by a good one in Heaven and eternal reward in a divine eternal place some call Heaven. From claims of exclusive access to divinely inspired truth follows the power to control communities of faithful believers by employing fashion police to punish those who noticeably deviate from a standard of conduct that leads some members to behave like racist, heterofascist, warmongers.

As communities of faithful believers race to out work, out fight and out number competition in the global culture, they are confronted by the limited dimensions of the planet Earth. We live in a body consuming biosphere on a crusted magma globe of limited dimensions. There is a limit to the energy and space made available to communities of faithful believers by the planet Earth and thus there would appear to be a limit to the exponential growth of the global population; and a limit to the time that the race could be run. Yet these are racist ideologies. The world today appears headed today towards ever more profound disasters, calamities, desolations and conflicts as some authoritarian, powerful, orderly, controlling states drive their own people to out work, out fight and out number the rest of the planet in a race to win the game of survival and sacrifice as it pertains to states and nations of people. As such, the need and aspiration of some states to maintain and achieve authority, power, order, and control over the global culture supersedes the need and aspiration of the individual to be happy and healthy.

These limitations to the dimensions of Earth, fierce competition for ever more scarce resources and bad leadership from conservative ideological authorities cause this race to win in the game of survival and sacrifice as played out by states, nations and communities of faithful believers to be transformed into a race to Armageddon. A mercenary plutocratic predatory few patronize conservative ideological authorities that lead communities of faithful believers to run a race to Armageddon by out working, out fighting and out numbering their competition. Conservative ideological authorities command communities of faithful believers to be fruitful and multiply, work all the hours of the day from dawn to dusk, and fight evil; make prohibitions against sex for recreational, occupational, or homosexual purposes; and raise objections to sexual education that could make these practices safer. Conservative ideological authorities proclaim that commandments, prohibitions, and objections are based on the word of a good one in heaven at war with an evil one cast down to and ruling over Earth contained in a set of sacred scrolls handed down from generation to generation based on conservative ideological traditions. Conservative ideological authorities interpret the sacred scrolls for communities of faithful believers and proclaim that many are cut off from the good one because of the influence of an evil one cast down to and ruling over Earth and therefore unable to experience divine revelation personally. Conservative ideological authorities proclaim that only a few are chosen by their good one to receive exclusive divine revelation of spiritual truth. With the devices of the influence of an evil one cast down to and ruling over Earth and exclusive divine revelation of spiritual truth conservative ideological authorities succeed in usurping the authority of self to make up mind about self and world. No longer can thoughts and ideas of self be trusted to be free from influence by an evil one cast down to and ruling over Earth. Only the thoughts and ideas of conservative ideological authorities patronized by a mercenary plutocratic predatory few can be trusted to be 'good' and 'true'.

Abramic Religions have come to dominate much of the global culture because of their success in motivating communities of faithful believers to out work, out fight, and out number the rest of the world. Yet for all their success these conservative ideological traditions fail to instill a sense of high self esteem and high world esteem in the minds of their followers. Why? Because a model of self divided by a spiritual conflict between good and evil leads to low self esteem and a model of world divided by a spiritual conflict between good and evil leads to low world esteem.

Followers agree to rely upon exclusive divine revelations of spiritual knowledge first before relying on personal divine revelations of spiritual knowledge and thereby followers give up their authority to make up their own minds about self and world to conservative ideological authorities patronized by a mercenary plutocratic predatory few. This is necessary for a mercenary plutocratic predatory few to be able to have authority, power, order and control over communities of faithful believers; and justify a socioeconomic stratification of the global culture of psychotic extremes of poverty and wealth. With that authority, power, order and control a mercenary plutocratic predatory few leads communities of faithful believers to run a race to Armageddon. Armageddon is sold to many as a necessary final war before the good one in heaven will have victory over the evil one cast down to and ruling over Earth. As global population surges to higher numbers under the influence of communities of faithful believers motivated to out work, out fight, and out number the rest of the world, natural resources become ever more scarce. An ever more complex and sophisticated technological infrastructure becomes necessary to support the survival of the many of our global culture. This complex and sophisticated technological infrastructure is vulnerable to devastating terrorist attacks resulting in risk of liability for many.

A mercenary plutocratic predatory few preys upon the many of our global culture by both offering protection from terror to the many in exchange for gold and by creating a demand for protective services by terrorizing the many of our global culture. Thereby a mercenary plutocratic predatory few extort gold from the many in a global shakedown of epic proportions called the war on terror. In terror many are induced by a beast of a military industrial complex to buy the latest technology at this year's arms show. As the beast of a military industrial complex becomes ever more powerful the living conditions of the many deteriorate to the point were many are living in abject poverty in a desolate war zone where disease is run rampant, and famine is a fact of every day life. Communities of faithful believers may come to wish for this final war because conservative ideological authorities promise the following: Before Armageddon, the good one will rapture or transport living members of communities of faithful believers to heaven; and after Armageddon, the good one will reward those who are faithful loyal and true by resurrecting dead members of communities of faithful believers, judging members good, giving members bodies with perfect form and function and allowing members admission to a place of divine eternal bliss called heaven. As a result communities of faithful believers tend to be quite willing to go to war. The result being that these conservative ideological traditions produce both intolerant, fanatical terrorists bent on fighting evil and aggressive warmongers attacking those states deemed sponsors of terrorism. These developments are all to the liking of a mercenary plutocratic predatory few who profit in the market from sale of products and services of a beast of a military industrial complex and rule an underworld of cities and bunkers designed to withstand a catastrophe on the scale of a super volcano eruption or global nuclear war. Who wins in a race to Armageddon? Do the many win or the few? Will the few win in a race to Armageddon by taking refuge in an underworld and awaiting an opportunity to bloom as a seed of the next over world? Will the many lose in a race to Armageddon like lemmings whose breeding cycle has run it's course?

Abramic Religions are Satanic Religions. Their followers claim to be worshiping this good one in Heaven yet this good one is not good enough to rule over the Earth. In their minds, they give over rule of the whole Earth to Satan an evil one cast down from Heaven. The claim that Satan is ruling over Earth at present and on into the future, and the claim that the evil one attacks the minds and bodies of the many leads many to fear temptation and this in turn leads some to fear their own bodies and their own minds.

Many are lead to have low esteem of self and world by conservative religious authorities that claim self and world are divided by a spiritual conflict between a good one in heaven and an evil one cast down to and ruling over Earth. Fear that body and mind may be under attack by an evil one and fear that thoughts and feelings can not be trusted is a key feature of this form of low self esteem. Fear that the Earth is ruled by an evil one cast down from heaven and at war with a good one in heaven is key feature of this form of low world esteem. Because of this myth of a world divided by a spiritual conflict between good and evil some undoubtedly end up being conditioned by communities of faithful believers to assume the role of evil people, internalize and act upon this belief with tragic, violent, criminal results.

I think, believe and expect that most of the education, entertainment and leadership broadcast to the many by a mercenary plutocratic predatory few is bad for the many and good for a mercenary plutocratic predatory few because the wealth of the global culture is highly concentrated into the hands of a mercenary plutocratic predatory few; and because mercenary plutocratic predators patronize ideological authorities that lead communities of faithful believers to build models of self and world that produce low esteem of self and world. Low esteem of self and world may make many feel unworthy of a equitable share of the wealth of the global culture; may make many more vulnerable to predation by a mercenary plutocratic predatory few; and may make it that much easier for mercenary plutocratic predators to concentrate the wealth of the global culture into the hands of a few.

Answer 2

Probably like any other lobbying group politically, currently.

Historically, it was unnecessary, since Judeo-Christian ethics were the mores of the American people...


Icetender, you are saying that non-Christian cultures oppose the death penalty, and are pro abortion? That's ridiculous...

Answer 3

Religion is the basis of 'moral' legislation. Issues like the death penalty and abortion are two primary examples of this. If religion did not impact policies, these would not even be questions asked in political forums. They are key issues none the less.

Answer 4

Both history and current events tell us that the answer is. . . BADLY.

Answer 5

Never to the benefit.

Answer 6

http://www.christianamerica.com/foundingfathers/ben_rush.htm

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/

http://www.eadshome.com/QuotesoftheFounders.htm