If religion should be kept out of politics permanently, why did the nation run well when religion was public?

Question

Relgion has always been a litmus test (whether for good or bad, I won't say), yet many people say that religion should be kept out of politics now. How can these people explain why the government did well when religion was vey much out in the open? The greatest president we have ever had in this country, Abraham Lincoln, was very religious as were so many other of our great presidents. Why then try to get religion out of government if it makes such great people to lead this country?

Answer 1

Religion doesn't need to be taken out of government but those who are elected in political office need to be aware of not letting their own personal beliefs cause them to judge others or pass legislation that would negatively affect someone who doesn't believe what they believe.

There needs to be a separation of church and state, not a disassociation. Meaning we can have both, but we can't let personal religious beliefs guide political or judicial decisions.

Now I'm talking about religion, not morality. Obviously we want morally strong people who are compassionate, caring, and have a sense of values to make those important decisions. For most people that sense of morality comes from religious beliefs. But there are plenty of atheists and agnostics with strong moral convictions who are just as capable as anyone else of leading us, just as there are plenty of religious people with twisted beliefs that would lead us down a path of destruction.

This is purely hypothetical but let's say Mitt Romney is elected and because he's a Mormon who doesn't consume alcohol he decides to bring back prohibition. That's what I mean about not letting religious beliefs control political or judicial decisions.

Answer 2

You're joking, right? Religion has always played a huge part in American politics. The difference is that when the country is represented by a more balanced perspective from all groups, it does well. If one group takes total control, like, say...now, then the country does poorly.

This has always been a very conservative country. The only reason we have the religious freedoms we have, is because we needed as much support as possible from every group when we were fighting for American independence against England.
Most non-protestants weren't allowed to vote or hold office at that time. But faced with a choice of British dominance or allowing non protestant groups the right to religious freedom, we chose religious freedom. And look how wonderfully that turned out!

Now if only we wouldn't act like we regretted that decision every decade or so...things might go better.

Answer 3

That is because of the very nature of a republican government. To be a republic, laws must be respected by the people. To force people to obey replaces the republic with some form of dictatorship/monarchy. People respect laws only when they are imbued with some sort of moral framework and this can only be provided by religion. In the case of the USA Constitution, many religions are involved but all significant ones are Judao/Christian in nature. While it has been long recognized that a state religion leads to tyranny, the US Constitution provides that the people can freely express their religious beliefs. Separation of church and state is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution that being a modern re-interpretation. It worked in the past because that is the way it was intended to be in the Constitution. With the move towards Marxism in the USA, religion had to be destroyed in government as a tool towards developing a "law enforcement" mentality and the shift towards being a police state required for the "proletariat of the people" to become a reality. It is not working well now because we are being transitioned away from the Constitution and a political system in transition rarely works smoothly.

Answer 4

Another con who cannot understand the difference between religous people in government and a religous government.
Nobody has suggested that religous people should not be in charge (except ignorant bigoted conservatives who have a problem with Congressman Ellison because he is a muslim - or even more idiotically Obama because they think he is a muslim). What is opposed (and made clear in our constitution) is that our government should not establish a religon or discriminate against those of a different (or no) religon.
When cons rant on about what the bible says to justify certain laws they are doing just that.
When cons try to make my child feel excluded by removing him from a classroom before officializing the indoctrination of children with ancient middle eastern mythology they are doing just that.
See the difference?

Answer 5

I also have an interest in the same things as you. I love to draw, reading, composing music, writing stories. I also love studying science and religion as well as following politics. With these it is a matter of placing them in their proper context. These are not the end all be all authority in defining life for me, but I do find them just as interesting as my artistic passions. From a young age I prided myself on taking after the example of histories great artist, who were exceptional in many fields of study, such as philosophy, chemistry, physics, religion, mathematics, engineering, etc.

Answer 6

One of the major problem in our country is lack of discipline. Discipline requires spiritual enlightenment of understanding and actions. Religion capables of this requirement. Just observed inside the church the way people act, behave, and proper grooming, even though the church does not requires and strict us like law in the politics. "No one is above the law?" We are political people whether we like it or not.. We want to uphold what we want by ignoring moral responsibility.Do you think without religion the mockery in the government will be transparent. Who cares, and I don't care what religion is...and specially in the government.

Now, think about religion should be kept out the way we do as politician inside our religion (the church). What more!

Answer 7

Religion has never been so much of the political process as it is now. Things have gotten worse since politics has become so self-consciously religious.

Answer 8

It could be the media was not as big as it is today. Now days if a dog kills a child, its on the new in about three mins. Back then information did not travel as fast as todays times.

It could just be character, todays leader dont seem to have that in mind, heart, soul, body. When a man can pay you to vote on a bill, the way he wants. You have what you have today...

Answer 9

Right wing religion has declared war on science. Not a good thing to have in the current high tech world. While the Chinese would like America to fall behind, that is not good if America wants to stay strong.

Real religion has a strong position on war and Bush claims to hear from God directly on that (he implies God is pro-PNAC). I think they call that 'hallucination'.

Answer 10

Religion and morals are to closely tied to take religion completely out of politics. We need those morals or our human rights will eventually be stripped away.