Religion and Politics

     Long considered taboo for polite discussion, religion and politics now seem to be the topic of the day.  Who you're for is no longer a private matter when it comes to religion or politics.  In fact, the implication is that they should somehow go hand-in-hand. 

     Last night, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama fielded questions that had to do with their faith, their politics and how the former may influence the latter at a "Compassion Forum" held in Pennsylvania.  Don't let the title fool you, the forum had little if anything to do with compassion and lots to do with nailing down the faith perspectives of our two democratic candidates.

     In America, our nation was set up in a way that would ensure the separation of church and state.  Why - because the founding fathers were a bunch of atheists?  No, because many of the people who settled here had come to escape religious persecution.  They wanted the freedom to worship (or not) as they saw fit.  Keeping a separation between church and state ensured that the political powers of the day would be unable to institutionalize their own form of religion and impose it on the rest of us.  This separation was critical to ensuring that everyone, not just the party in power, would retain their freedom to practice the religion of their choice.  (For more information on the separation of church and state, visit Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.)

     But America refuses to let sleeping dogs lie.  Democrats, who have long kept their religious affiliations to themselves are being forced, in a cheap imitation of Republicans, to wear their religion on their sleeves.  They have come to realize that in this country, it can be political suicide to do otherwise.  Evangelicals need to be assured that the Democrats are right with God before they'll even consider what else they may have to say.  Like it or not, these evangelicals are a vocal and powerful group and the Democratic candidates have learned that their relationship with God (or their lack thereof) must be held up for public scrutiny if they want a chance of being elected.

     Other religious folks have jumped on the bandwagon as well and so, the dialog has begun.  Candidates must not only discuss what they want to accomplish when they get into office, but why they want to accomplish it.  We all need to know if they're doing things for the "right" reasons.  While I find religious lip service for political gain to be abhorrent, I realize that the Republicans have been doing it for decades and, well,  the Democrats have to fight fire with fire.  But in a land where religious freedom is a basic right and the religious landscape is so varied, it seems absurd for candidates to have to attempt to align themselves with the faithful to get their political endorsement.  Which faithful do you try to placate?  I suppose the evangelical Christians are the ones to win over these days, but how is a religious stance that will please them going to sit with the Muslim Americans, Buddhist Americans, Jewish Americans or Humanist Americans?  How do you please everybody?  Why should you have to?

     What I care about is the candidates political record, their ability to get things done, their ideas on what needs to be done.  I realize that their personal values will influence how they go about choosing what to focus on and how to approach it.  And, yes, it follows that a person's religious affiliation will likely inform and shape their values to some extent.  But the focus should be on the values, not on the religion that may have helped to instill them.  Why do we insist on using religious terminology, references to religious scriptures and texts, claims to particular faiths?  In a religious melting pot like America the tendency to talk about being a "devout Christian" or making references to how Genesis helped to form your attitude toward caring for the environment is likely to offend or alienate as many voters as it attracts.  It seems to me that what we really should be asking, is "what are your values?"...not what religion are you and how will it affect your decision making. 

     Some of you might insist that this is what were talking about.  We are simply getting at a candidates value system through discussions of faith.  But I disagree.  While religion plays a role in the development of a personal value system, it is not the only source of our values.  Our families teach us values, our societies teach us values and our personal life experiences influence our values.  Yet we aren't asking the candidates to discuss how these factors helped them to develop their value systems and how this will influence their political choices.  No - we are asking them about their faith and how this will influence their actions.

    Faith and values may overlap, but they are not one and the same.  If you don't believe me ask yourselves this:  How well do you think a candidate would fare if he or she said "I am an atheist, I don't believe in God or belong to any religion, therefore my religious beliefs would have nothing to do with my political choices.  My decisions will be based on rational thought and what I feel is best for our nation and it's citizens.  I value peaceful resolutions, rational discourse and debate, practical solutions to our environmental concerns, doing what is best for the common good etc. etc." You know it as well as I do...most Americans would shudder at the thought of it...they would have stopped listening once they heard the word atheist...and the candidate would have accomplished nothing less than political suicide.  So are we asking about values, or are we talking religion?  What really matters here - what someone believes or why they believe it?  Maybe that's the question that should be asked.

     There are many good people out there who have been motivated to do wonderful, compassionate things by their faith in God or their membership and love for their particular religion.  But there are also many good people who have been motivated to do great things by the values that they hold dear - values instilled by family, community or life experience without the influence of any particular God or religion.  The key factor is the shared values, not a shared religious perspective.

    Hasn't recent history taught us this lesson?  Solid values, whatever the source, are the foundation for intelligent and socially responsible political action.  Claims to religious affiliation, invoking the name of God in political speeches, asking that "God Bless America" - unless those words have the values to back them up they are just words.  Lip service to God has been the staple of many a politician including our current president.  It is useless to speak of God and religion if you fail to live the values they imply.  I for one have had enough of lip service.  Whether your values come from God or family I really don't care.  I care what your values are and I want to see evidence of you living them.  How well a candidate can talk about God or faith matters little...how they demonstrate their value system in the actions they take is the true test.  Isn't it time we focused on what really matters?

      

Comments

[Margaret]

Sing it, sister!
Most of the time, I consider myself apolitical (is that like being an atheist?), but I find myself wanting to refer to "those Republicans" when they ask inappropriate questions such as these. It's a political tactic designed to force Democrats to play their game. One they can't win. Because the right answer to "What religion are you?" is: "None of your dang beeswax." The problem is, if they answer that way, then everybody gets all excited and starts making news out of nonnews: "Oh she won't tell us, she must be a Satan worshipper, or worse - Mormon!"

[Lori@betweenusgirls]

Margaret,

Thanks for your comments - you always have something smart to say and you never fail to put a smile on my face in the process!

[Natural Woman]

Keeping a separation between church and state ensured that the political powers of the day would be unable to institutionalize their own form of religion and impose it on the rest of us:

religion shares the same bed with politics. they need to be separate, but have a very close relationship.

.02

[Lori]

Agreed. Religion and politics can work hand-in-hand to accomplish our nations goals. We just have to make sure that one doesn't commandeer the other.