Who else wishes people would keep their religion out of politics?

Question

NO ONE----Absolutely no one has cornered the market on why we are all here or what comes after this life!

Many people have theories----it's all speculative---and I think it should stay out of making governmental policies to it's people!!

Our country allows individuals to follow their own beliefs in this subject as long as no one is harmed in whatever teachings you believe in ---- so go ahead and worship what you want!!

But it should remain personal---not influencing government policy---cause if we aren't careful we can find ourselves closer to countries like those we are trying to condemn and/or "liberate"!

For those who keep saying you can't seperate the two --- of course you can!
Not everyone who is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Atheist, or whatever is of high moral fiber---how often have we seen people who proclaim to be devout EX: Priests, Haggard, the Bakers, just to name a few fall from grace even in their tightly held and widely publicized religions???

It has to be seperate!
Not everyone believes as you do religiously---but everyone wants laws to keep society protected equally!

Answer 1

Religion and government are dangerous to intermix, for both religion and government.

It's dangerous for the government to do so because tying religion too closely to government establishes a shadow government that is not beholden to the people. Further, once a leader can claim a "divine right" (as Bush has tried to do) they create a vehicle where any action, any action at all, can be simply forgiven of them by their most compromised followers. Too much religion in a "democratic" government poisons the roots of the tree of democracy by undermining it.

It's dangerous for religion because you can't just tie religion as a whole into the government, you wind up favoring one religion. Which, for the short term, may be great for the "winning" religion, but time changes things and religions change with time as well. One universal theme in many world religions is that if you're on the top today, you could be on the bottom tomorrow.

The union of church and state creates a situation of inequality amongst the religions, which often leads to persecution... and as we've seen in some countries that have carried out ethnic and religious cleansings, persecution tends to fail, and the persecutors tend to become the persecutees.

Religion has no place in government, unless the person advocating it supports a nazi-like dictatorship of persecution, since that's what it normally turns into.

Edit: "Religion is the fundamental building block of morality. You can't seperate your faith from what you see as just, right, and moral."

Tom, whose morals? Is your morality supreme over the morality of other religions? (They don't align perfectly, after all.)

And what about atheists and agnostics? Are they immoral by default, incapable of being good people because they don't believe the same stories that you do?

The argument that morality spawns from religion is a chicken-and-the-egg misconception by the dangerously ignorant.

Look at most of the moral positions taken by world religions. Once you peel back the layers of self-serving morality (such as directives which demand persecution or excommunication for even granting the possibility of the existance of deities not recognized by that religion) you get a very basic (very very basic) subset of rules that pre-date modern religion:

Don't kill.
Don't steal.
Don't betray those around you.
etc...

These are consider "moral" not because some great being in the sky said so, but rather because they're materially destructive to human society.

The root of morality is not and will never be religion. Religion simply borrowed the rules from the rest of society in order to better control their followers.

Is religion an enforcer of human morality? Yes.

Is religion the origin of human morality? Of course not. Such a belief is ludicrous.

Edit2: "Unless your a ten year old then the Government Mandates that you be indoctrinated into Evolutionary theory.


I am all for Keeping religion out of politics. But not just for some situations for ALL situations in which the funding is furnished by the government."

And if evolution were a religion, East Coaster, you might be correct... but evolution still remains firmly in the realm of science. I know, I know.. the next argument is "but science is a religion!" We're not even going to head down that road... the earth isn't flat. The sun doesn't revolve around the earth. And science is not a religion by any reasonable definition of the term.

Answer 2

I wholeheartedly agree that government should not impose any religion on the people.

I am not religious myself, but I do not agree with the radical ACLU which pulls stupid stunts like banning nativity scenes at Christmas. (ironically, the ACLU is very selective: in the same place, they will get a Christian display removed, while any other religious displays, Jewish, Muslim, etc. can stay).

Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs. Our founding fathers wanted to protect peoples' rights to freely practice their religion without recriminations or interference. At the same time, they made sure that our Constitution prevented the government from ever imposing any one religious belief on the country.

Some people simply do not understand the simple difference between freedom OF religion and freedom FROM religion. Our currency says, "In God We Trust". That does not force anyone to believe in Jesus or Allah.

Behind the bench at the Supreme Court, the Ten Commandments are inscribed into the wall. Only an ACLU idiot could somehow find that objectionable. ( Maybe they should just erase the Commandments they don't personally like.... just kidding).

A President swears his oath of office on a bible.
Congress begins the session with a prayer.
When our nation was founded, they typically had a priest make some invocation to bless the even, and make them wise enough to legislate well.

So for all the revisionists, this is the basis upon which our nation was founded. Stop acting like you don't know that.

Answer 3

The abolitionists and the civil rights activists were largely motivated by, and justified their actions by reference to, their religious faith.

Do you wish they had "[kept] their religion out of politics"?

Usually when people say this, they are generally talking about a relatively small number of issues - abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem cell research, etc.

I don't think the general principle that people's religious, spiritual or moral beliefs have no place whatsoever in the public policy debate is valid.

Answer 4

"Our country allows individuals to follow their own beliefs in this subject as long as no one is harmed in whatever teachings you believe in ---- so go ahead and worship what you want!!"

Unless your a ten year old then the Government Mandates that you be indoctrinated into Evolutionary theory.


I am all for Keeping religion out of politics. But not just for some situations for ALL situations in which the funding is furnished by the government.

Answer 5

I/we agree Kelly . But keep in mind it's a 'two-way street' . Government should not legislate to 'squash' any particular religion either !! Especially when about 90% of Americans are Christian . Remember all the liberals screaming 'The President should govern according to the WILL OF THE PEOPLE ???? Kinda gets the Liberal View in a Catch-22, now doesn't it !!!!

Answer 6

What does this war and terrorism all boil down to: religious conflict. If people cannot see by now that these two things should be kept seperate, they are very naive.

And to Bunintheoven and others: you must realize that moraility operates seperately from religion. An atheist can be a moral person.

Answer 7

So if everybody would only have the good sense to think exactly as you do, there would be less rancor? It's hard to argue with that. My personal belief system is religion-based, and though I wouldn't insist on imposing my religion on others I base my ethical and political thinking in large part on my religion. This is true for many of us, and was true for many of our Founding Fathers. It's quite impossible for us to divorce the two. I'd ask for tolerance of my position just as I have tolerance for yours. But the point of throwing my religion in your face is well taken, and I'd not do so myself, but I also extend a level of understanding to those who do. A little tolerance isn't too much to extend.

Answer 8

The problem is that you view the world using your paradigm. Religion is something you believe in. You are what you believe and so your actions will reflect what you believe.

You also have to remember what the government is. it is made up of people elected by the people. People will elect who they believe will best represent them and the policies made by those elected will essentially reflect that belief.

The laws of the state must protect the rights as a human being.

Answer 9

If you want a just and moral society, religion is the first thing you must pry out of government entirely. Religion is the fundamental stumbling block of morality.

Until you remove the blinders of faith, you cannot see what is just, right, and moral.

Answer 10

The Constitution forbids establishing a state religion. Christ said "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's"
So it appears to me that the state and Christian Religious teaching requires that you keep religion out of politics.